After being compared to Adolf Hitler by multiple viewers, Jeopardy!‘s current champion, Brian Henegar, deactivated his Twitter account on Tuesday.
Henegar, who is from Tennessee and works at Pilot Flying J truck stop, dominated the Monday episode and claimed victory over the previous champion, Crystal Zhao, with a staggering $23,201 in winnings. However, despite his success, Henegar was still subject to online harassment.
“Brian was so excited when he won, he caused quite a führer,” one fan tweeted. “Okay, this Brian guy on #Jeopardy is channeling some Hitler vibes with his look,” another person remarked.
After more than a few similar responses, Henegar said he would leave the site.
Right now I’m feeling every emotion under the sun reliving my Jeopardy! appearance. And I’m seeing what a bunch of Jerks on Twitter are doing because all they can focus on my looks… So I’m going to be leaving Twitter for a while, see you soon
— Brian Henegar (@JepMasta) April 5, 2023
“Right now I’m feeling every emotion under the sun reliving my ‘Jeopardy!’ appearance,” Henegar tweeted. “And I’m seeing what a bunch of Jerks on Twitter are doing because all they can focus on [are] my looks … So I’m going to be leaving Twitter for a while, see you soon.”
This turned around some fans, who jumped in to defend the current champ from the barrage of messages about his appearance.
“*Sigh* I wouldn’t have used the phrase “lightning fast” to describe #Jeopardy champion Brian Henegar’s buzzer skills if I’d realized people were saying he looks like Hitler,” one fan tweeted, concluding with “Don’t pretend it’s ever constructive criticism to reach out to a real person on a special day to say that.”
Another person, claiming to know the champ personally, said “The fact Brian Henegar on Jeopardy! last night is being compared to a historically evil dictator based on his looks is utterly disgusting, bet its because all the haters are jealous of his knowledge…go touch grass…”
After seeing the outpour of positive tweets after declaring his departure, Henegar decided to temporarily return to the social media site.
“So … I’m back on Twitter for the time being at least … I wanna say that seeing these really hurtful comments by some very jerky people made me lose all faith in humanity,” he wrote on April 5. “Seeing all of your positive replies, restored it, and then some. Thank u all and god bless you.”
Henegar also revealed that he would shave his mustache to cease the comparisons to Hitler.
“So I have two things to say right now, and then I’m not gonna say anything else about the matter for the sake of my own sanity,” the “Jeopardy!” champ said. “For starters, even though I’ve spent about 10 years on it, i’m shaving off my mustache tonight … too much work to keep it tight.
And…here it is. Ignore the lighting it’s seven here in Tennessee and I am about to drive to work. pic.twitter.com/XcMvcmzY6C
— Brian Henegar (@JepMasta) April 6, 2023
“And second, to all of you jerkolas you thought comparing my appearance to one of the most evil dictators, who ever lived was the height of comedy, when I get my Jeopardy winnings, I will be making a donation to the Anti-Defamation League,” he continued.
“That way some good will come from your hate.”
He then shared that instead of shaving his facial hair, he plans to grow it out.
“So I decided rather than to shave off my mustache, I’m just gonna grow it out into a goatee … I admit that I run the risk of making myself look like my evil twin from a parallel universe, but that’s just the risk I am willing to take,” joked Henegar.
Once more, Henegar appeared on the game show on April 5, where he managed to dominate the competition once again, earning a two-day total of $43,202 in winnings and where folks called him a “machine.”
