By Audrey Rock
Publication Date: 2026-09-05 02:56:00
Former “Wheel of Fortune” announcer Jim Thornton seemingly referenced “panic” after a fellow plane passenger took photos of him appearing to engage in an alleged online pedophilia chatroom and alerted a flight attendant in May.
According to photos published Friday by TMZ, shortly after Thornton was ordered by a flight attendant to close his laptop, he seemingly typed an unknown question into Google’s search engine on his phone, with the often-illegible A.I. response reading, “No link to your room: Unless you explicitly told someone ‘I am hosting this specific chatroom on for right now,’ nobody … at your internet … and link your … identity to … room.”
A line largely obscured by Thornton’s hand read, “Why You … to Panic.”
According to the outlet, the passenger who snapped the photos said Thornton seemed “nervous” after the flight attendant asked him to close his laptop.
An attorney for Thornton did not immediately respond…
