Is Pat Sajak ok?
That’s the question many Wheel of Fortune viewers were asking themselves Tuesday night after they watched the game show host yell “shut up” at one of his contestants.
The moment came just before the show’s bonus round as Sajak, 77, was tallying up the players’ points.
“According to my math, by $200—” Sajak began to explain before he was interrupted by the excited player, Angela, shrieking “Shut up!” with excitement.
“You didn’t mean that personally?” he asked, with Angela assuring him she did not.
Sajak continued: “According to my math, by $233, you are the winner with $11,900.”
An ecstatic Angela continued to clap and shriek with excitement.
But it was the next line from Sajak that caused shock among at-home viewers.
“I’ll be back,” Sajak told Angela, before turning back to her to yell “Shut up!” in a mocking tone, trying to match her energy.
While it was likely Sajak’s attempt at a joke, online fans expressed their disappointment in the host.
One person called it “highly disrespectful an (sic) inappropriate.”
Another commented that “screaming ‘shut up’ at a Black woman…is not a good look.”
Others, however, defended Sajak, saying he was likely just having a bit of fun.
Sajak announced last year that this season we be his last helming the show, meaning he doesn’t have much more time behind the giant spinning wheel.
“Well, the time has come,” Sajak shared to social media last June. “I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September (2023), will be my last.”
Sajak has been the Wheel of Fortune host since 1981. The following year, his iconic co-host Vanna White joined the production to operate the gameshow board and reveal letters as they are guessed by contestants.
