Jeopardy contestant ‘Karen’ under fire for bizarre anecdote about being ‘terrified’ of Queens, New York

Jeopardy contestant Karen Ellestad has come under fire online for telling a strange anecodate about being in ‘abject fear’ on the subway in Queens, New York

Jeopardy! contestant Karen Ellestad has been criticised for telling a bizarre anecdote about feeling terrified in a majority non-white neighbourhood in Queens, New York (Jeopardy)

A white Jeopardy contestant called ‘Karen’ has been criticised over a bizarre anecdote where she claimed to have been “terrified” by taking the subway to the ethnically diverse neighbourhood of Queens in New York.

Karen Ellestaid, a Kentucky-born chaplain at a Christian school in Georgia, told host Ken Jennings on Monday’s episode about her “troubling experience as a 15-year-old.”

She said that she had doing a summer programme in Manhattan and “didn’t know a single person in New York City, and shockingly, I didn’t make any friends in the program...So, I would spend my time riding the Subway around the city.”

The educator from the city of Frankfort added that one day she “wasn’t paying attention” and accidentally found herself in Jamaica, Queens.

“I had no idea how I got there,” she said. “This was very much pre-Uber, pre-smartphone. So, a terrifying moment. Just me in abject fear.”

Viewers immediately took to social media to raise concerns about her comments.

Laurence Timmerman tweeted: “A #jeopardy contestant named #Karen told a story on the show about how she accidentally took the subway into Jamaica, Queens and she was “terrified.” That is called racism.”

“Her name is actually Karen… and she lives up to it,” wrote another, referring to the pejorative term that gained popularity last year to describe white women who use their privilege to gain an advantage.

In 2019 Queens was awarded the ‘third most diverse country in the US’ after two counties in Hawaii, following an analysis of US census data by media company Axios.

According to 2012 census estimates, 27.2% of the population is white, 20.9% black or African American, 24.8% asian.

And 27.9% identify as hispanic or Latino origin, of any race, including white.

The census estimated that in Frankfort, Ellstad’s hometown, the population of white, non-hispanic, individuals was more than 74%.

The Queens Eagle noted that some viewers gave her the benefit of the doubt including one person who tweeted: “When I was a kid and riding the subways when I wound up totally lost and couldn’t find my way home I would be terrified for a few min... so maybe it’s not what we think it is.”