Ken Jennings’ big brain might not get him out of this one: The “Jeopardy” legend tweeted a joke about the recent death of terminally ill “Star Wars” superfan Daniel Fleetwood, and many have found it “disgusting.”
“It can’t be a good sign that every fan who has seen the new ‘Star Wars’ movie died shortly thereafter,” Jennings wrote on Twitter Tuesday, the same morning Fleetwood’s wife took to Facebook to share the sad news about the man Disney allowed to see an early cut of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
For many people, that was just too soon. But for Jennings, it was “a solid joke premise.”
@anildash I DO NOT AGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY BUT WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH A SOLID JOKE PREMISE –VOLTAIRE
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) November 10, 2015
IBM, which employs Jennings for its Watson commercials, did not immediately respond to TheWrap with a comment. “Jeopardy” had no comment. But here’s a sample of everyone else who’s weighing in.
@KenJennings everyone thought of this joke smart guy, but most were smart enough to realize it was too soon to make it. — Stefan Sirucek (@sirstefan) November 11, 2015
@ASeach96 “incentive”?
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) November 11, 2015
@ASeach96 I did! But honestly you didn’t really come off as the nicest/classiest guy, I have to admit. — Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) November 11, 2015
@KenJennings this is disgusting dude. every fan who saw the star wars FILM died shortly after
— rob whisman (@robwhisman) November 10, 2015
.@KenJennings Ken, here’s your chance to make things right for Daniel’s widow https://t.co/rBFcLsv5se — Paul Lindberg (@_dockingbay94_) November 11, 2015
@KenJennings Not funny, Ken. Lost a sweet girl to cancer a few weeks ago. Still hurts. It always will.
— Lee Withers (@lmontheradio) November 10, 2015
@KenJennings …oh my god. This is DISGUSTING. — Gareth O’Malley (@arcsofcommand) November 10, 2015
.@KenJennings Stick w/ humping the Jeopardy win & your books, dude. Jokes are really not your forte.
— Holly Briley (@HollysHere) November 10, 2015
@KenJennings wow! Ground breaking joke. Making fun of someone’s dying wish. You’ll be dead someday. I hope ur wish is funny too. — Emilio Mauro (@Thereelemilio) November 11, 2015