When it comes to Jeopardy! players, all fans have their favorites. We root for them to continue their streaks and love to see them face off in different tournaments. But on the flip side, there are those we don't enjoy watching as much. Some contestants are particularly polarizing—such as Arthur Chu, Yogesh Raut, and even James Holzhauer. And now, reigning champion Drew Basile isn't going over all that well with some Jeopardy! fans.
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Basile is currently dominating regular gameplay, having defeated 15-game winner and Season 40 super-champ Adriana Harmeyer last week. He's now on a six-game streak. When he clinched his fifth win and earned a guaranteed spot in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, the official Jeopardy! social media accounts shared a post celebrating his success. Many followers took to the comments and replies to air their grievances about Basile's game behavior.
"If obnoxious bragging winning was a person," one X user wrote in response.
Another added, "I'm a regular viewer, but I'm done until Drew is gone. He's arrogant and full of himself. So unpleasant. Hopefully his run will be short and his defeat will be glorious."
On Instagram, viewers were even more ruthless, dubbing the champ "attention-seeking" and "unwatchable." And on Reddit, the criticism continued.
"His demeanor is poor. Would it hurt him to support other players, like when they find/correctly answer daily doubles? Longtime fans notice those who do and do not," one viewer wrote.
Another simply called him "annoying."
Beyond his perceived persona, viewers also have issues with Basile's recurrent phrasing issues. The champ has become notorious for neglecting to phrase his responses in the form of a question.
"He keeps missing the phrasing and the longer his reign goes...they gotta crack down on it more," a Redditor wrote. On X, another fan said that Basile "seems like a good kid" but urged him to "remember your phrasing!"
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But there's yet another element to Basile's critical base, as many viewers already knew him from his time on Season 45 of Survivor.
"My take on Drew from watching Survivor is just that he’s someone more comfortable in his own head than in social situations—and yeah, I’d call following politeness rules on Jeopardy a social situation. During his season, some folks attributed little things he said or did to malice that his castmates, who seemed to really like him, didn’t care nearly as much about," a Redditor wrote in response to critiques of Basile's demeanor.
But while Basile has his fair share of detractors, there are plenty of devoted viewers rooting for his success as well.
"Loved Drew and all of his literary references on Survivor. Not surprised he is doing so well. Haters gonna hate but only love from me!" a June 26 post on X reads.
"He's fun to watch," another wrote, while a separate viewer on Reddit said that his behavior actually makes him more authentic on Jeopardy!.
"I may be [biased] given I have some built-in goodwill for Drew as a Survivor fan, but I love how authentic he is coming across. Fist pumps on big gets, surprise on last second answers, near face-palms on answers he 'should' have known...overall love him as [a] champ," the poster wrote.
