NEW YORK — “Wheel of Fortune” host Jim Thornton’s suspension was triggered after he was allegedly spotted looking at a pedophile support chatroom on board an American Airlines flight back in May, according to a report.

In images obtained by TMZ, the longtime television host can be seen seated on the plane, his laptop out in front of him on his tray table. He appeared to be scrolling on a website called lifeline.chat, a web service apparently dedicated to helping those with pedophilic thoughts. One message appeared to refer to the eatery, Golden Corral, as “an all-you-can-eat Boyfett” while another mentioned a “Couple of cute boys and a hot little girl.”

Other posts referenced masturbation on a “737” plane, with one person writing, “Does it count as the mile high club if its a handjob?”

Another mentioned someone getting caught for “looking at CP on his laptop ON THE FLIGHT.”

A fellow passenger aboard the same plane — which had been traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles — apparently caught Thornton on the page and reported his internet activity to a flight attendant. He was met and questioned by authorities when the plane touched down at LAX, but he was not arrested nor charged.

In a statement to TMZ, Thornton’s lawyer Allison Hart, said he was on the page by mistake and that he instead intended to visit the suicide prevention website, 988lifeline.org.

Thornton has “become active in suicide-prevention advocacy since losing a close family member to suicide two years ago, and he has spent time visiting chat rooms offering support to individuals suffering from suicidal ideation,” Hart said, adding that the announcer exited the chatroom when he realized his mistake.

Time stamps from the images indicate that the announcer was in the chatroom for at least 57 minutes.

Hart further noted that it is “not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”

Thornton joined “Wheel of Fortune” back in 2011, when Pat Sajak was still hosting with assistant Vanna White. Since Sajak retired in 2024, he has starred on the show with both White and Ryan Seacrest.

Sony Pictures Television announced his suspension from the game show earlier this month, after the accusations came to light on Sept. 1.

“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” a Sony spokesperson told multiple media outlets. “He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”

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