Ken Jennings defends podcast co-host "Beans Dad" after apologizing for tweeting about "unartful and insensitive things"

Entertainment Weekly

Last week, Jennings apologized again for past offensive tweets after more of them went viral. “I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things," he tweeted. "Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen.” On Sunday, Jennings' Omnibus podcast co-host John Roderick went viral over a tweet thread claiming he once made his hungry 9-year-old daughter spend six hours learning to use a can opener while he watched. Roderick's thread prompted the resurfacing of more of Roderick's offensive tweets. Still, Jennings defended Roderick, tweeting: "If this reassures anyone, I personally know John to be (a) a loving and attentive dad who (b) tells heightened-for-effect stories about his own irascibility on like ten podcasts a week. This site is so dumb." But as EW points out, Jennings' defense rubbed some the wrong way because of the interim Jeopardy! host's recent apology. As New York Times reporter Astead W. Herndon tweeted: "ken jennings is gonna post his way outta succeeding alex trebek which is truly an amazing bag fumble."