Danger! Fans accuse host Ken Jennings of making an ‘unfair comment’ on champion Matthew Marcus before the player scores fourth win

DANGER! Fans have accused Ken Jennings of making an “unfair remark” to the reigning champion that may have crossed the line of impartial hosting.

Before Matthew Marcus responded to a tip looking for an Oscar Wilde character — who he revealed he likes — Ken toasted, “He’s your favorite author!”

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The returning champion was joined by Greg Snyder, a call center manager from Las Vegas, Nevada, and Carolyn Shivers, an associate professor from Grand Island, New York.

Matthew, a software developer from Portland, Oregon, created Jeopardy! Fans hum as he continues to win and he now has enough wins to qualify for the 2023 Tournament of Champions.

Ahead of his fourth win, which surpassed $100,000 for a total of $114,000, 48-year-old Ken made a remark to him that fans didn’t take lightly.

The last remaining reference to the $400 episode was under “Fictional Title Characters.”

“HE IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR!”

Ken read: “Lord Henry tells him ‘to get back to my youth I would do anything’… except play sports, get up early, or be respectable; Wild!”

Matthew – who revealed earlier in his run that he’s a big fan of Oscar Wilde – buzzed in to guess the fictional character.

But before answering, Ken teased, “Matthew — he’s your favorite author!”

Matthew got it wrong with “Who is: Ernest” – contestant Carolyn got it as “Dorian Grey”.

Matthew and Ken both laughed and the champion ducked behind his podium in mock embarrassment.

The presenter added, “You had the wrong job, you’ll have to work that out with Oscar yourself.”

“BIG NO”

One disgruntled fan on Reddit wrote, “I thought it would be a BIG NO, NO if Ken said it was Matthew’s favorite author when he called.”

Another agreed: “This is seen as unfair aid to a candidate. (Ironic that Mathew still got it wrong.)”

A third wrote: “Hope Ken’s statement was made after production.”

“I thought that would be it too, but I guess if the author’s name goes in the clue, is it ok?” wrote a fourth.

A fifth also defended that the author’s name was included in the notice: “I don’t see the problem.”

But others agreed that it was just weird for Ken to say anything.

And Matthew could have missed the part of the clue that said “savages” and Ken narrowed it down for him as a result.

“Did Ken just tip off Matthew? ‘Matthew, he’s your favorite author,'” ranted a sixth.

Despite the strange incident, Matthew was open in the second round and had a solid lead over Final Jeopardy.

He led $19,800 to Greg’s $13,000 and Carolyn’s $10,800.

Final Danger! read: “This Sanskrit word, which refers to a spoken word or phrase, comes from a word for ‘think.’

Matthew and Carolyn got it right with “Mantra” and the champion added $7,000 to win $26,800.

BRIT WHO LOVES LIT

Matthew – who has also revealed he’s a fan of word puzzles and cold readings of Shakespeare via Zoom – is now the sixth contestant to make it into the 2023 winners tournament.

So far this season, which is nearing its halfway point, only five other contestants big enough to qualify have won.

We look to six-day winner and trivia genius Troy Meyer, fan favorite Ray Lalonde with 13 wins, former poker ace Cris Pannullo with 21 wins, five-day champion Luigi de Guzman and four-day champion Champion and Priest David Sibley.

Much like the ever-likable Canadian Ray, viewers have loved Matthew’s British accent.

Host Ken recently opened up a show by sharing that Matthew is from New York – not Oregon, which confused some viewers.

Producers announced on Monday’s Inside Jeopardy! that “Matthew obviously has a very identifiable accent. In fact, he was born in New York!”

“Then he was quickly taken to the whales for 10 years. He lived in London and attended Oxford,” he now resides in the Pacific Northwest.

Much like the controversial three-day winner Jake Dearruda or the notorious Yogesh Raut, this reigning champion hasn’t been shy about sharing his thoughts on his games.

Matthew brought up an odd moment on Friday’s episode where host Ken rambled on about a response – he claimed it “locked him out” from buzzing in on Reddit.

He also admitted on Wednesday’s episode that the main reason he won was because his rival Tanya oddly only bet $1,000 on two daily doubles.

In the same Reddit thread, Matthew also hinted that he might “not last through the week” – or six wins – as he hasn’t “slept well” – as noted by The US Sun.

As for host Ken, the formerly most successful contestant of all time has been slammed by fans for making “too many comments” on stage.

When a Twitter user asked him about it recently, he jokingly clapped back, “I’m looking at it now.”

Co-host Mayim Bialik will be replacing Ken on February 20.

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