'Jeopardy' Champ Ken Jennings Apologizes For 'Insensitive' Tweets, Explains Why He Deleted Them

Ken Jennings addressed the backlash after deleting the controversial tweets he made years ago ahead of his debut as the new "Jeopardy" host.

Jennings was slammed after he was named the interim host of "Jeopardy" following Alex Trebek's passing. He took to Twitter and shared a series of tweets in which he admitted to making insensitive tweets and explained why he decided to finally delete them.

"Hey, I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I've definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things. Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen," he wrote.

"In the past, I'd usually leave bad tweets up just so they could be dunked on. At least that way they could lead to smart replies and even advocacy. Deleting them felt like whitewashing a mistake. But I think that practice may have given the impression I stand by every failed joke I've ever posted here. Not at all!" he continued.

After Jennings admitted to having tweeted insensitive things, he apologized and explained that he didn't intend to offend anyone with his posts. He added that he was looking forward to 2021 intending to be kinder to the people around him.

"Sometimes I said dumb things in a dumb way and I want to apologize to people who were (rightfully!) offended. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone, but that doesn't matter: I screwed up, and I'm truly sorry," he added.

"If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that we should be kinder to one another. I look forward to heading into 2021 with that in mind."

Jennings received flak after screenshots of a previous tweet seemingly mocking the disabled people resurfaced in November. Many found the joke insensitive and offensive.

"Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair," his tweet read.

"I'm disabled. I use a wheelchair due to spina bifida. I was outraged when this tweet happened in 2014 and I'm outraged now that @Jeopardy is using this cruel man as an interim host. Who TF makes a tweet like that??? It's cruel," one person with a disability commented.

"This is disgusting - I hope they fire his a--! This is not Alex's legacy!" another wrote.