To say the choice to hand over the permanent Jeopardy! hosting reins to executive producer, Mike Richards was a controversial one is to say Ken Jennings won “a little bit of money” on the long running quiz show.
First fans felt LeVar Burton didn’t get any true consideration for the role after his guest-hosting stint with many believing Richards had a hand in ‘choosing himself’ for the gig.
New Jeopardy! Host Mike Richards Apologizes for Degrading Women.
Richards addressed this in his statement after being hired for the permanent role saying, “the choice on this is not my decision and never has been.” The Heads of Sony reportedly made the final decision, though Richards was heavily involved in sourcing guests hosts during the months-long search for a late host, Alex Trebek’s successor.
The next uphill battle for Richards was addressing past discrimination lawsuits from his time as a producer on The Price is Right. A former model on the gameshow filed a lawsuit alleging she was fired after becoming pregnant.
“The way in which my comments and actions have been characterized in these complaints does not reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together on The Price is Right,” Richards claimed saying he would never “disrespect anyone’s pregnancy”.
However, no sooner did that information raise eyebrows of long-time Jeopardy! fans, a new Richards scandal broke. Now the new host is apologizing for insensitive remarks he made about women on his podcast circa 2013/2014.
Though Richards podcast “The Randumb Show” has already been erased from the internet, it was too late as his derogatory comments, including referring to his female co-host as a “booth ho” and “booth slut,” and, during a segment about leaked celebrity nudes asking his female co-host and his assistant if they had ever taken “booby pictures,” were already reported upon.
Other lowlights of the podcast include Richards saying a woman “dress like a hooker” for Halloween, claimed a former employee who took up baking would get “giant” and decided one-piece swimsuits make women “look really frumpy and overweight.”
“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago,” Richards began in an apology statement via Sony. ‘Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast, and I am deeply sorry. The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around. Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes.”
Richards has also said he will do better, stating, “My responsibilities today as a father, husband, and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.”
Needless to say, this hasn’t made a very vocal bunch of dissatisfied Jeopardy! fans any happier.
Richards’ tenure as Jeopardy! host begins in September.
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