host Ken Jennings sparked online debate Thursday after using sarcasm to dismiss calls from transgender activists to boycott The New York Times' word games. Jennings sarcastically claimed he received "express permission from the trans community" to keep his games subscription, taking aim at demands that readers boycott all New York Times products. The exchange began on the social media platform Bluesky, where Jennings posted screenshots of the New York Times' game Spelling Bee. "I'm guessing the average trans person is orders of magnitude more likely to play NYT games than to get mad at others for doing so," he said. In 2023, hundreds of New York Times contributors, along with thousands of subscribers, signed an open letter to the paper condemning its coverage of transgender issues.