“Wheel of Fortune” announcer Jim Thornton has been suspended from the show pending the investigation of an incident that appeared to have taken place on a plane.
The alleged episode happened in May when a fellow passenger complained about the man who’s been the voice of the popular game show since 2016, according to TMZ.
Police were waiting for Thornton when his flight landed in Los Angeles.
Thornton’s lawyer told TMZ the veteran broadcaster committed no crime and was not arrested.
“Law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred and told my client he was free to go,” the attorney said.
Sony Picture Television Studio confirmed it was recently made aware of unspecified allegations against Thornton, whose role is being recast while the company conducts “a thorough investigation” of the matter.
Thornton has loaned his voice to video games including “Wall-E” and “Mafia II,” according to IMDb. He also voiced 15 episodes of the animated series “Celebrity Deathmatch” and the Pixar film “Monsters, Inc.”
Thornton became the unseen voice of “Wheel of Fortune” after the show’s longtime announcer Charlie O’Donnell died in 2010. O’Donnell held that job for nearly 30 years.
Thornton works behind the scenes at the game show hosted by Vanna White and Ryan Seacrest, who took over for Pat Sajak when that veteran emcee retired in 2024 after 41 years on the job. White has been on the program since 1982.
Sony hasn’t returned a request for comment on Thornton’s status.
