Jeopardy! fans love their decorum, so they were not thrilled to see contestant Aaron Craig indulge in an “unsportsmanlike” celebration after winning Monday night’s episode. Craig earned the ire of Jeopardy! viewers when he clapped for himself after Ken Jennings said he’d won. Craig also pointed at the crowd, blew a kiss at them, and yelled “Let’s go!” in a display that fans immediately blasted as “boorish” and “unsportsmanlike” on social media.
Others called Craig an “unlikeable contestant” while one fan even went so far to tweet directly at him.
“You might possibly be the most annoying contestant I have ever seen on the Alex Trebek stage,” JasonH tweeted at Craig. “Your reaction at the end of double jeopardy was tasteless. Completely on brand for you, completely poor sportsmanship.”
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Via New York Post:
“I turned the TV off after the self-congratulatory behavior,” one viewer said on Reddit. “I certainly am not rooting for this guy to win and not even sure if I’ll watch the rest of the tournament. I’ve watched Jeopardy for decades and don’t recall seeing such rudeness.”
“The clapping at the end was unnecessary,” another Redditor added.
“My husband and I looked at each other with mouths agape lol. It was wild,” a third person said.
However, some fans came to Craig’s defense and noted he had every right to be excited. A former Jeopardy! winner Jilian Cotter said emotions can run hot when you’re on stage competing.
“In Aaron’s defense, it can be hard to keep your emotions in check on stage,” Cotter wrote on Reddit. “In one of my games (I have no idea which one) I was so mad that I’d rung in with an incorrect answer that I stomped my foot. … The adrenaline does wild things to you.”
Craig also addressed the backlash and offered a pretty good explanation for his excitement: His kids were in the audience.
“I’m sorry if I got overly excited,” Craig wrote on Reddit. “I certainly didn’t mean to show anybody up, but my kids were there and I couldn’t believe that they got to watch me not just play in a semifinal, but win! Anyone who thinks I was over the top, that’s 1000% fair. No argument here.”
Craig also called his opponents “amazing and lovely and brilliant” and “either one would have been a great and deserving winner today.”
You can watch Craig’s controversial Jeopdary! celebration below:
(Via Decider, New York Post)