A teenage Jeopardy contestant has opened up about the horrific cyberbullying and stalking that she faced in the wake of her appearance on the show.
Claire Sattler, from Bonita Springs, Florida, won the the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in 2018, and she recently revealed that she received a lot of online scrutiny after coming out on top – which left her with ’emotional damage.’
Claire, who was 16 when she appeared on the game show, said she was flooded with nasty messages afterwards – with some people even finding her private social media accounts and others accusing her of having sex with host Alex Trebek in exchange for the answers.
She shared some the traumatic backlash that she received after her time in the series to TikTok, where it quickly went viral – gaining more than 150,000 views in a matter of days.
A teenage Jeopardy contestant has opened up about the horrific cyberbullying and stalking that she faced in the wake of her appearance on the show
Claire Sattler (pictured on the show with host Alex Trebek) won the the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament in 2018, and revealed she received a lot of scrutiny after coming out on top
Claire, who was 16 when she appeared on the show, said was flooded with nasty messages afterwards – with some people even finding her private social media accounts
She shared some the traumatic backlash that she received after her time in the series to TikTok, where it quickly went viral – gaining more than 150,000 views in a matter of days
‘What was it like being on Teen Jeopardy?’ the video began, as Claire held up a framed photo of her and the host, who passed away in November 2020.
‘Stalkers. Nationwide cyberbullying,’ she continued, as she showed a screenshot of an email she received that said someone had started following her on Google+ account.
‘Being accused of having [sex] with a 79-year-old man (as a 16 year old) for the answers. Because you weren’t smart enough to win on your own apparently.’
She captioned the video with two party emojis, along with the hashtags #jeopardy #emotionaldamage #ripalextrebek #trauma and #anxiety.
In the comment section, Claire said that Alex was ‘so funny’ and that being on set was ‘awesome,’ but that the ‘aftermath was a different story.
Many people flocked to the comments to send Claire support, and some other former contestants even spoke out and shared their own experiences from the show.
‘I was on Kids Jeopardy and they really tried to sexualize me and diagnose me at age 11,’ one person wrote. ‘Really not OK, I’m sorry this all happened!’
According to Claire, she was faced with ‘stalkers’ who requested to follow her on Google+, as well as ‘nationwide cyberbullying’
She even claimed that she was accused of having sex with Alex, who was age 79 at the time, in exchange for the answers
In the comment section, Claire said that Alex was ‘so funny’ and that being on set was ‘awesome,’ but that the ‘aftermath was a different story’
Many people flocked to the comments to send Claire support, and some other former contestants even spoke out and shared their own experiences from the show
‘I was on [Wheel of Fortune] at 19 years old,’ another added. ‘I thought my trolls were bad, sorry you went through that.’
Someone else said: ‘My friend was on the show as a kid. His experience was different, likely because he is male. People really go after teen girls for petty s**t.’
‘That f**king sucks,’ a fourth comment read. ‘People are the worst. I’m sorry you had to go through that.’
‘I hope the bullying has stopped,’ someone else wrote. ‘That’s ridiculous.’
‘So sorry this happened to you,’ a different TikTok user agreed. ‘I watched your original appearance and you were such a great player. F’n sucks that people treat you this way.’
Claire’s admission comes after former Jeopardy champ Amy Schneider – who was recently defeated after winning 40 games in a row – revealed that she was the target of viscous social media trolls.
Amy, who is a transgender woman, was the first trans person to qualify for the Tournament of Champions on the show, and revealed in December that she often gets mean comments about her identity and sexuality.
Claire’s admission comes after Jeopardy champ Amy Schneider (pictured) – who was recently defeated after winning 40 games in a row – revealed she was the target of social media trolls
Amy, who is a transgender woman, said in December that she often gets mean comments about her identity and sexuality
She responded to some of her haters in a tweet posted on New Year’s Eve, writing, ‘I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time to reach out and explain that I’m a man’
Earlier this month, Amy fell victim an armed robbery, which saw her phone, credit cards, and ID stolen – but there was no suggestion that the attack on her was hate-related
In a tweet posted on New Year’s Eve, she responded to her haters, writing, ‘I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man.
‘Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind.’
Earlier this month, Amy fell victim an armed robbery close to her Oakland home, which saw her phone, credit cards, and ID stolen.
There was no suggestion that the attack on her was hate-related, and it is unclear if she was targeted because of her fame and burgeoning bank balance.
‘Hi all! So, first off: I’m fine,’ she tweeted after the incident, which took place on January 3.
‘But I got robbed yesterday, lost my ID, credit cards, and phone. I then couldn’t really sleep last night, and have been dragging myself around all day trying to replace everything.’
According to Oakland Police, two unidentified robbers – one armed with a gun – approached Amy and ordered her to give them her belongings.
The thieves then fled the scene. No arrests have been made.
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