'Jeopardy!' slammed on social media for clue about deadly Oso landslide

SEATTLE -- More than a dozen people took to social media to criticize the game show 'Jeopardy!' after a clue earlier this week about the Oso landslide which killed 43 people.

The clue read: "After heavy rain in March 2014, one of these moving at 60 mph crushed the small town of Oso."


The Oso mudslide was one of the deadliest landslides in U.S. history, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

Q13 FOX News first learned about the clue from a viewer on our Facebook page.



On the show's page, commenters shared their displeasure about the "insensitive" clue.

"I am disgusted by the "Oso landslide" question tonight," Jaimie Mason wrote on the show's Facebook page.  "As a member of the community, and as someone who worked out in the mud for the first two and a half weeks, seeing the unspeakable, I am appalled. How dare you turn our tragedy, of loosing 43 amazing people, into a trivia question. How insensitive. It has been 11 months and 1 day. Not 50 years...and even then.. Not cool jeopardy. Not cool."

"Very disappointed that the Oso landslide was trivialized and used for entertainment in this evenings episode," Erika Renee Holleran wrote. "Lives were lost, families were destroyed, people buried under twelve feet of mud. However less than a year later jeopardy sees it fit to make it a money winning trivia question. Disappointed."



"How disrespectful of you to turn a tragedy less than a year old into a trivia question. A huge chunk of our community was gone in a flash and has hardly had time to heal. Very disappointed in Jeopardy tonight," Katie Oittinen wrote.

"Not impressed with one of your questions on your show recently," wrote Jessica Michele Hebert. "A bit TOO SOON to use the Oso Slide as a means for someone to gain $ in answering it correctly. While I'm here, don't use MPHS in your show either. Tacky!"

At least one commenter asked what 'Jeopardy!' could have done differently.

"Okay. So what would satisfy more discontented fans?" wrote Josh McIlvain. "If Jeopardy stopped asking questions about recent tragedies and disasters altogether? Or if they pledged a matching amount for every clue of this nature to an appropriate relief/memorial fund? Just curious."

But overwhelmingly, the response was outrage.

"Wow jepoardy. You really had an Oso mudslide question on your show last night? It happened less than a year ago and killed entire families," wrote Brittany Baugh. "What is insensitive?"

"I just saw a post of a recent question regarding the landslide that destroyed the town of Oso. I believe it was very poor taste," wrote Michael Beane. "I graduated high school from up in that region very near there and have lived, off and on, up there for 20 years. People are still putting their lives back together and now they are kicked down to a mere trivia question. This has turned me off to the show."

"Really !!! Less than a year since the horrific oso land slide and your gonna make it one of your questions !! Thoughtless and heartless Mr. Trebek !! And your producers !!!!!!!" wrote Jon Polly Landgren.

Q13 FOX News reached out to Sony for comment Wednesday afternoon, but we have not yet heard back.

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