Hosting the show buzzed, mocking contestants, getting inappropriate
with a co-host - and that's just the stuff that made it to air! He's been a fixture
of daytime TV for decades, but not many people know about Pat Sajak's shady side.
In the early days of "Wheel of Fortune," longtime co-host Vanna White's job was to flip letters
over, physically turning them around on the board when contestants guessed them correctly. However,
in 1997, the show moved into the future and replaced the physical board with the
row of televisions they still use today. Rather than making White obsolete however,
her job title merely changed from 'letter-turner' to 'letter-toucher.'
Celebrating a look back at the moment the show took its leap forward,
"Wheel" shared a clip on Instagram showing Pat Sajak explaining the change to viewers
as well as the presentation of the modernized letterboard.
"The new board, which you will see on Monday,
it's heat activated if you will, and if anyone can heat up a board, you can."
Fans were surprised the show would share a moment that didn't make Sajak look particularly great,
with comments calling the host out for being disrespectful to White.
The scientific consensus is clear: climate change is real. NASA,
for example, puts their conclusion this way -
"This is based on the weight of over a century of scientific evidence forming the structural
backbone of the science and technology underpinning much of our civilization today."
Its effects are already being felt around the world. The United Nations notes that
humanity is already experiencing more and more extreme weather,
such as hurricanes, wildfires, and drought.
Pat Sajak, though, disagrees. In a since-deleted tweet in 2014, the game show host wrote -
"I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic
racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night."
It's unclear how exactly belief in the scientific consensus around climate
change has to do with being racist, but Sajak seemed concerned that the
government was spending too much money to fix the problem. In another tweet he wrote -
"Help ... climate changing ... must send money to lots of places ... a
lot of money ... hurry ... time is short ... not kidding ..."
His tweets sparked think pieces around the internet,
and fans on Twitter didn't let it go either, with one fan pointing
out Sajak's hypocrisy around how much money is spent, writing about the host's tweets -
"Says the guy who charges people for vowels."
2022 was a rough year for Pat Sajak's public image. In early April, he tweeted
that perhaps yet another controversy was on the horizon, foreshadowing -
"You know, it's been over a week since I've stormed off the show,
displayed erratic behavior, cheated someone out of their winnings, or insulted a player. I'm due."
Sure enough, an episode that aired the following week brought even more
backlash against the game show host. Traditionally, Sajak and his co-star,
Vanna White, close out each "Wheel of Fortune" episode with a bit of pre-credits joking,
but sometimes Sajak takes it too far. In the April 13th episode, an opera singer won that
day's installment of the game, leading Sajak down an uncomfortable line of questioning.
"Are you an opera buff at all?"
"Yeah, I'm not a buff but I like opera."
"Have you ever watched opera in the buff? I'm just curious."
"No!"
Viewers were unhappy with the episode's inappropriately invasive turn,
with some being forceful in their condemnation of Sajak. One fan tweeted -
"Dude is trying to keep the thrill alive for this job any way he can. I'm amazed
he hasn't resorted to torturing contestants during the show."
In a lot of ways, 2014 was an important year for queer representation. Neon Trees frontman Tyler
Glenn came out, as did football player Michael Sam. This was also the year that Elliot Page gave
his coming out speech at a Human Rights Campaign event. Later that year, in an interview with
Rolling Stone, pop star Sam Smith would reveal that their album was about a man, while Gawker
reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook would have to come out publicly after being outed on television.
Pat Sajak jumped into the fray that spring. In a since-deleted tweet,
he announced his straightness to the world, writing -
"Damn the career consequences! I'm hereby proclaiming my heterosexuality!"
As Queerty noted, LGBTQ+ public figures come out at great risk to their personal and professional
lives, possibly finding themselves rejected by their peers and fans in a world that still
doesn't always accept them. Sajak seemed to be playing into the notion that there should be
pride about being straight too, which outlets such as USA Today have noted has a problematic history.
Several months after his tweet, Deadspin reported,
Sajak was talking to a contestant who had on his card that he was recently engaged. Sajak
then began to ask a follow up question that implied that the contestant was marrying a
woman. Only issue: the contestant was gay and was engaged to a man.
It's a time-honored tradition of game shows like "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of
Fortune" to have contestants tell a quirky story about themselves on their
episode. It's a cute way for the audience to get a glimpse into their personalities,
considering they spend the majority of the episode merely answering questions or offering guesses,
and it gives game show hosts a chance to riff with the contestants to make the audience laugh.
Pat Sajak, though, seemed somewhat bored of this aspect of his job while filming
an episode early in 2022. A contestant named Scott chose as his anecdote a childhood memory
of injuring his toe while riding a bike in flip flops. For some reason Sajak seemed
perplexed at the anecdote, even pointedly asking Scott why he was telling the story.
Scott clarified that he wanted to give a shout-out to the two paramedics who
helped him. After the contestant finished telling his terrible tale of toe woe,
Sajak looked into the camera, seemingly stunned.
"That ... th-that may have been the most pointless story ever told."
Fans on social media were not only quick to suggest that Sajak apologize for being rude,
but some pointed out that the television personality has looked increasingly frustrated
with his longtime "Wheel of Fortune" hosting gig, with one fan tweeting -
"With these more frequent outbursts, it seems obvious that Sajak hates his job."
The 2018 edition of the Academy Awards was the first Oscars ceremony that took place in
the early months of the #MeToo movement, and the iconic golden statues were handed out as Hollywood
was still reeling from a series of shocking revelations of sexual abuse committed by powerful
members of the industry. Host Jimmy Kimmel made reference to it in his opening monologue, joking -
"If we can work together to stop sexual harassment in the workplace […] women
will only have to deal with harassment all the time at every other place they go."
Frances McDormand famously called for an "inclusion writer" in her acceptance
speech for best actress, and the show even aired a montage of powerful women,
introduced by actors like Annabella Sciorra who had accused Harvey Weinstein of abuse.
Later that year, for the upcoming 2019 ceremony,
planned host Kevin Hart stepped down from the awards show after fans pointed out the
comedian's history of homophobic tweets, for which Hart later apologized for on Twitter.
Apparently, Pat Sajak wasn't a fan of Hollywood addressing its own complicity in sexual abuse
against women, or of the show reckoning with its host's history of homophobia. He tweeted
that the show should be two nights long — awards would be given out first, and then writing -
"On the second night, hold your political rally."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault,
help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Pat Sajak has been hosting "Wheel of Fortune" since all the way back in 1981. To put that in
perspective, as he noted on Twitter while marking his 40th anniversary as host,
that was the first year of Ronald Reagan's presidency, and the popular series "The Dukes
of Hazzard" was still on TV. It was a different world back then, and Sajak has had to keep things
interesting over the years in order to stop himself from getting too bored of the job.
Along those lines, he revealed on ESPN's "Highly Questionable" back in 2012 that
he used to engage in some highly questionable behavior himself. In an admission that likely
had his network bosses pretty unhappy, Sajak recalled that his breaks between
episodes used to be much longer than they are today. He and co-presenter Vanna White
would go across the street to a Mexican restaurant that served margaritas, saying -
"Van and I would […] have two or three or six,
and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet."
He insisted that no one ever spoke to him about it, and joked about not
knowing the quality of the shows he hosted while buzzed. Nowadays,
surely the droves of fans who watch "Wheel of Fortune" each night and live-tweet their
experiences would definitely have something to say about this questionable behavior.
All sorts of people play "Wheel of Fortune;" there's a reason why they call it "America's
Game!" Unfortunately, Pat Sajak sometimes fails to recognize the diversity among his contestants,
and that got him into hot water in early 2021. In a clip from a February episode shared to Twitter,
a contestant named Chris can be seen bantering with the host during his introductory anecdote,
talking about the technology he sells. As Yahoo! noted, the man appeared to have a
lisp as he told his story, something that Sajak apparently picked up on.
"So that's just a myth."
"Yeah it is, it is."
"I thee, uhhh."
"Wheel" viewers were not happy with the mockery, and they hopped on Twitter to
express their disappointment, with some of the comments referencing a pattern in Sajak's
rude behavior towards contestants on the show. Others were more forceful in their condemnation,
with at least one "Wheel" fan even calling for Sajak to step down from hosting. The
moment also instigated at least one debate on Hot 97 about cancel culture, proving
that even lighter fare like daytime game shows aren't immune from sparking hot button issues.
In September 2022, a photo of Pat Sajak posing with Congresswoman
Marjorie Taylor Greene went viral on Twitter.
Many fans were disappointed to learn of Sajak's support for a controversial politician who,
as NBC News pointed out, has mocked school shooting survivors in the past. They expressed
their displeasure on social media after the photo was tweeted by an account that monitors far-right
activity called Patriot Takes. Director Jeremy Newberger seemed to reference Greene's speech
at a white nationalist conference when he tweeted about the photo, writing -
"It's only been 8 months since Marjorie Taylor Greene gave the keynote at a Nazi rally where
the organizer praised Adolf Hitler. So by all means, Pat Sajak, take some selfies with her."
According to ET, others made the connection to the fact that Sajak had recently announced he was
planning to retire in the near future. As of this video, Sajak has not commented on the viral photo.
Pat Sajak is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Hillsdale College,
a controversial higher-education institution. When he took the reins from outgoing Chairman
William Brodbeck in 2019, Brodbeck told the school newspaper that he wasn't bothered by the fact that
Sajak didn't actually attend the school he would now be leading, saying of the game show host -
"Pat is a brilliant mind. He brings a sound knowledge of the school. He
can dramatically move Hillsdale forward, both on campus and around the country."
It's that "around the country" part that has drawn criticism for the school, especially thanks
to their involvement in Florida's polarizing overhauling of its education system, which is
curious, considering the college is located in Michigan. According to Slate, a law in Florida
gives consultants from Hillsdale broad authority to help rewrite Florida's educational standards,
including oversight of textbooks to root out any so-called "critical race theory."
They have also received pushback, according to the Nashville Scene,
for attempting to open charter schools in Tennessee; particular criticism came
when Hillsdale's President Larry Arnn told the state's governor about Tennessee public schools -
"The teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country."