Suspended “Wheel of Fortune” announcer Jim Thornton has been fired following an in-flight pedophilia chatroom incident.
“Following a thorough investigation, Jim Thornton’s employment with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has been terminated, effective immediately,” a Sony Pictures Television Studios spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Page Six.
News broke on Sept. 1 that Thornton had been suspended from his longstanding position.
“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” a rep for Sony told us at the time.
“He has been suspended from ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”
While Sony did not elaborate on the nature of the allegations, it was later reported that the suspension stemmed from an incident that arose while Thornton, 61, was traveling aboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles on May 14.
“On May 14, American Airlines Flight 1276 was met by law enforcement upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport following concerns reported by a customer onboard,” a rep for the airline told Page Six at the time.
In two of the images, messages — presumably from Thornton (clad in a “Wheel of Fortune” jacket) — were written in the chat bar. These messages were later sent to the chatroom by username “NicholasB77,” per additional pictures.
During the dialogue, user “NicholasB77” made a comment about how Golden Corral is a “nice hangout for kids” and that they saw “a couple of cute boys and a hot little girl” while dining there the day before.
The user added in their next message, “All-you-can-eat Boyffet.”
According to displayed timestamps, the chatroom conversation spanned for close to an hour.
The passenger who notified a flight attendant about Thornton told TMZ she allegedly saw images and texts suggesting he was in a chatroom for pedophiles, prompting her to share the photos with the crew.
Law enforcement officers were notified about the incident and met Thornton at the gate upon his arrival. Officers questioned the TV personality, who was then released.
To date, Thornton — who shares one son with his wife of 35 years, Sue Thornton — has not been arrested or charged in connection with the incident.
