Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton’s lawyer has shed new light on why he was suspended from the show and questioned by police.
Thornton was suspended on Monday over mysterious allegations tied to an American Airlines flight he took in May. A letter obtained by Page Six from Thornton’s attorney, Allison Hart, reveals that Thornton was caught browsing a chatroom for pedophiles while on board—while wearing a Wheel of Fortune jacket.
Thornton’s attorney claimed in the letter that Thornton encountered the site by mistake while trying to offer support to people experiencing suicidal ideation.
“Through an acquaintance in the suicide prevention space, my client was misdirected to a forum with a similar URL, the forumlifeline.chat, which my client understood to be a forum offering suicide prevention support similar to 988lifeline.org and chat.988lifeline.org,” the lawyer wrote.
She added, “When my client understood what the website was about, he left the page and has not visited since,” and “The website lifeline.chat itself is not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client has never viewed, downloaded, or consumed any child pornography, whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
TMZ published photos that contradict the story, however, as the site claimed Thornton can be seen browsing the website for at least 57 minutes, according to the photos’ time stamps. The photos show a chat open on Thornton’s screen featuring the phrases, “Couple of cute boys and a hot little girl” and another that references an “All-you-can-eat Boyfett,” allegedly referring to a restaurant where one could find underage kids to prey upon.
A passenger took the photos and showed them to the flight’s crew, after which the pilot alerted authorities to meet Thornton at the gate. He was questioned and then released. His lawyer said in his defense earlier this week, Thornton “was not arrested, and has not been charged with any crime.”
“When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow passenger on the flight, 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 lawyer added.
The voice actor took over as announcer on Wheel of Fortune in 2011, following the death of longtime announcer Charlie O’Donnell. Thornton briefly announced The Price Is Right before he became a permanent fixture on Wheel of Fortune, which is currently co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White.
Sony announced on Monday that Thornton would be suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into the allegations against him. The role is being recast, and according to TMZ, Thornton’s voice is being removed from the upcoming episodes he taped for the current season.
“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” a Sony spokesperson said in a statement at the time, without revealing the nature of the allegations. “He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune, and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”
