'Wheel of Fortune' announced Jim Thornton was fired after Sony Pictures Television conducted an investigation into allegations concerning an in-flight pedophilia chatroom incident.
Thornton, 61, has been the game show's announcer since 2011. "Following a thorough investigation, Jim Thornton’s employment with Wheel of Fortune has been terminated, effective immediately,” a Sony spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
The breaking news comes three days after the studio suspended Thornton and launched an investigation into allegations made against him on Tuesday, September 1.
"We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” Sony Pictures Television Studios previously told PEOPLE in a statement. “He has been suspended from 'Wheel of Fortune' and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation."
The allegations stem from an alleged incident aboard a commercial flight in May, TMZ reported. A passenger complained to a flight attendant about Thornton during the flight. The passenger accused Thornton of visiting an inappropriate website during the flight, according to KATU. The passenger said "she saw images and texts that made it appear it was a chatroom for pedophiles."
TMZ noted that the passenger said one of the messages read, "Couple of cute boys and a hot little girl," while another read, "All-you-can-eat Boyfett," allegedly referring to a restaurant where they could find underage children.
"On May 14, American Airlines Flight 1276 was met by law enforcement upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) following concerns reported by a customer onboard,” American Airlines said in a statement to PEOPLE. The airline did not identify Thornton or provide further details about the nature of the alleged incident.
Thornton has since denied the allegations. In a statement to TMZ, his attorney said the TV personality "did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested and has not been charged with any crime."
"When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred and told my client he was free to go,” Thornton’s attorney continued.
Thornton's attorney said he entered the chat by mistake. She said 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," adding that he visited 988lifeline.org and its chat forum, chat.988lifeline.org.
The lawyer also said Thornton was misdirected to a forum with a similar URL, lifeline.chat, which is for people who have pedophilic thoughts, according to TMZ.
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