‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Champ Yogesh Raut Says Ken Jennings Mispronounced His Name & Takes Swipe at Show

Although Yogesh Raut went home with $500,000, he was seemingly not entirely happy with host Ken Jennings, and how things played out on Jeopardy! Masters. The newly-crowned champion wrote on Facebook that the host mispronounced his name and the game show edited out when he asked him to say it correctly.

On Saturday, June 7, Raut shared a lengthy post on Facebook along with his interview on the Inside Jeopardy! Podcast. “My final pair of interviews on the show cut out everything I had to say about racism (as expected) and also a good portion of my thank-you’s, including many of the people I thanked by name,” he started off.

“They also cut out me saying, ‘Ken, when Neilesh [Vinjamuri] was up here he made a point of thanking you for pronouncing his name correctly, and I’d love to do the same — just as soon as you start.’ (Also not a hugely surprising elision.)”

When Ken Jennings introduced Raut, Victoria Groce, and Juveria Zaheer during the final Masters episode, Jennings seemingly got the champ’s first and last names both wrong.

He introduced Raut as “Yo-GESH Raut.” However, numerous internet pronunciation sites say his first name is pronounced “Yo-gaish.” His last name was also called out as R-out (rhyming with “shout”), while online suggestions are that it should be pronounced R-oat (sounding like “wrote.”)

See Jennings pronounce Raut’s full name in the clip below (0:46).

Fans responding to Raut’s Facebook post were supportive of his comments.

“They did not do a very good editing job. You could tell that something was cut off. I’m glad you said it here! Oh, and belatedly in this post, A BIG CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WIN!!!” one of his followers said.

“Congratulations! And I’ve always known your name to be pronounced phonetically- what’s the proper way?” another asked.

“I thought it was Yo-gesh. Is that correct?” replied one fan. Raut did not comment back to confirm.

Also on Facebook, Raut shared that his thanks-yous to Jeopardy! production staff was also cut. “I’d like to additionally thank Jimmy McGuire and Mitch the sound guy for consistently pronouncing my name correctly,” he wrote. McGuire is a stage manager at Sony Pictures Studios.

The Jeopardy! champion also revealed he had a mishap while in California for the show. He thanked the “Good Samaritan” whose name he forgot who helped him “escape serious injuries” when he fell down the escalator at LAX airport in Los Angeles. “But I will do my best to see that they get thanked on national TV!” he said.

Jeopardy! Masters, Season 3, now streaming on Hulu