After Tuesday night’s game, many former contestants of the game show ‘Jeopardy!’ accused three-time winner Kelly Donohue of showing a white power hand symbol on live television. Donohue went on to insist that the gesture simply signified three wins. “During the taping of my fourth episode, I was simply raising three fingers to mark my 3rd win. There was nothing more I was trying to indicate” he stated.
“People who know me personally know that I am not a racist, but for the public at large it bears repeating: I am not a racist and I reject and condemn white supremacy and all forms of bigotry for the evil they are” Donohue added. He created a Facebook post with this message, however ended up deleting it “because the comments were more than [he] could bear”.
“He held his thumb and forefinger together with his other three fingers extended and palm facing inward, and he tapped his chest. This, whether intentional or not, resembled very closely a gesture that has been coopted by white power groups, alt right groups, and an anti-government group that calls itself the Three Percenters.” other former contestants of the show explained. Donohue later wrote that he was “truly horrified” by the unfounded attacks against him.
The hand gesture that Donohue used is known by many as the “okay” gesture with his forefinger touching his thumb and his other three fingers extended. According to the Anti-Defamation League, it has allegedly also been picked up by people involved with white supremacist hate groups, using it to show the letters “W” and “P” signifiying “white power”. Donohue continues to insist that his gesture had no such meaning.
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