Once a “hoe”, always a “hoe”.
The old “Jeopardy!” reigning champion and presenter Ken Jennings still thinks he deserves to be compensated for his infamous NSFW response given during the game in 2004.
“Okay, so there’s a clip of me as an 18-year-old on ‘Jeopardy!’ circulating on TikTok where there is a track about ‘an immoral pleasure seeker’ having the same name as a long-handled garden implement,” the 48-year-old explained in a video posted on the show’s TikTok account.
“And players are supposed to say, ‘What is rake?’ And I’m like, ‘What’s a hoe?’ and TikTok apparently just discovered this and is delighted.”
While her response originally created a memorable moment for viewers and the late host Alex Trebek, people on TikTok today still don’t understand why Jennings’ assumption was wrong.
“I remember yelling the same response on TV when it aired, and my whole family laughed,” one person commented on the explanation.
“I have never heard of a person called a libertine,” said another.
However, Merriam-Webster defines a libertine as “a dissolute person.”
“I’ve always said that should have been accepted,” repeated another.
“I think the idea is that the track says he’s ‘an immoral pleasure seeker,’ and we don’t want to characterize all whores that way,” Jennings continued. “Rakes, apparently, we agree with that slander about her character.
“I still think I was fooled, frankly. I think they owe me $200 and, you know, maybe the writers should get together,” she joked.
Whether or not that will happen apparently depends on the fate of “Jeopardy!” judges and producers. As for the internet, they are processing the fact that the pop culture moment happened a long time ago.
“Wait, are you telling me it’s been 18 YEARS? Am I old enough to remember things that happened 18 years ago?!” commented a TikTok user.
“This man has aged maybe 18 months over the course of 18 years, oh my gosh,” another said of Jennings.