'Jeopardy!' Contestant Speaks Out After Hitler Appearance Comparison

Jeopardy! champ Brian Henegar has spoken out after he was trolled by a faction of viewers who compared his appearance to that of Adolf Hitler.

Henegar, from LaFollette, Tennessee, instantly won over an army of fans when he stormed to victory on Tuesday night's installment of the syndicated quiz show. Trouncing the competition, the guest services agent secured $23,201 in winnings.

Viewers took to social media to praise him for his animated reaction of disbelief as he was crowned the new Jeopardy! champ at the end of his episode. However, his win was marred by a number of viewers whom Henegar noticed were comparing him to genocidal dictator Hitler in a flurry of comments online.

Posting on the matter in a Jeopardy! subreddit, Henegar told fans of the show that "seeing all this positive attention has really been helping get my mind off of what has become the worst part of my Jeopardy! appearance.

Henegar wrote: "Apparently... several people on Twitter think I look like a certain infamous world leader... and that's all I can think about now and it's really making me upset."

Taking to Twitter, Henegar posted: "Right now I'm feeling every emotion under the sun reliving my Jeopardy! appearance. And I'm seeing what a bunch of Jerks on Twitter are doing because all they can focus on my looks... So I'm going to be leaving Twitter for a while, see you soon."

When a follower asked Henegar what was wrong with his looks, he responded: "Nothing I thought...but some people think I look like a very evil person from history. Makes it hard for me to enjoy the win."

Another wrote that Henegar "block them and move on," prompting him to tweet: "I would love to, but there are literally dozens of them comparing my appearance to one of the most evil human beings to ever defile the Earth...and it's a lot when I'm already on such an emotional high from winning."

Henegar then confirmed that he was referring to Hitler to another Twitter user, who commented: "Hitler had a much shorter mustache that barely went around his nose. You don't look like Hitler."

"Tell Twitter trolls that," the new Jeopardy! champ tweeted in response.

Despite announcing his break from Twitter, Henegar returned to the platform a matter of hours later, citing the positive responses he had also received.

"I wanna say that seeing these really hurtful comments by some very jerky people made me lose all faith in humanity," he wrote, in part. "Seeing all of your positive replies, restored it, and then some. Thank u all and god bless you."

Amid accusations of being "too sensitive," Henegar explained that "no one has ever said that to me before and it kind of got under my skin."

He also showed glimmers of a sense of humor about the discussion around his looks. When one Twitter user wrote that Henegar resembled Cheers actor John Ratzenberger, he wrote back: "See...I was thinking more like Higgins from Magnum, PI ;-)."

When another tweeted that they were "kinda getting Oliver Hardy vibes [...] with better hair," Henegar quipped: "Well that's ANOTHER fine mess you've gotten us into :-)."

On Wednesday, he announced that he was taking a drastic measure in response to the jibes about his appearance.

Henegar posted on Twitter that "even though I've spent about 10 years on it, I'm shaving off my mustache tonight...too much work to keep it tight."

"And second, to all of you jerkolas you thought comparing my appearance to one of the most evil dictators who ever lived was the height of comedy, when I get my Jeopardy winnings, I will be making a donation to the Anti-Defamation League," Henegar added.

"That way some good will come from your hate," he added. "Now... all that having been said, be sure to watch me on Jeopardy! tonight... Might be fun."

By Wednesday night, Henegar announced on Twitter that his mustache had been saved—but he still planned to adjust his appearance.

"So I decided rather than to shave off my mustache," he tweeted. "I'm just gonna grow it out into a goatee... I admit that I run the risk of making myself look like my evil twin from a parallel universe, but that's just the risk I am willing to take :-)."

As an increasing number of Twitter users showed their support for Henegar, one person wrote that the abuse he faced was somewhat self-induced.

"It's nice that some people are being nice & supportive. But dude—you just admitted that you CHOSE a mustache style (AND also a hairstyle, btw) that resemble Hitler's," they said. "That's exactly why most men have avoided that look since the 1930s. Even [Charlie] Chaplin acknowledged his resemblance."

"But that's not the mustache that I was wearing, or am wearing," Henegar replied. "The mustache he wore with the short one just underneath the bridge of his nose mine is a full one out to the corners of my lips."

Away from the facial-hair furor, Jeopardy! fans saw Henegar romp home to victory once again during Wednesday night's episode. His two-day total earnings now stand at $43,202. He will be seen vying for his third consecutive win on Thursday.