Update: Mike Richards has now stepped down as the host of Jeopardy!
Previously reported:
When Shadow and Act last reported on Jeopardy!, it was revealed that supposed new permanent host Mike Richards, who also happens to be an executive producer on the show was among the defendants named in “multiple discrimination lawsuits filed during his 10-year run as executive producer of The Price is Right.”
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In addition, Richards has fallen under more scrutiny for making sexist remarks about women and other marginalized groups on the podcast on his podcast The Randumb Show from 2013 to 2014.
All of this could have been solved had Jeopardy hired LeVar Burton or the Black woman Alex Trebek lobbied to be his potential successor. During an interview with TMZ’s Harvey Levin in 2018, Trebek revealed he wanted CNN legal analyst Laura Coates to be his potential successor. However, Coates (who also hosts The Laura Coates Show on SiriusXM’s POTUS) didn’t even get an audition. She was not one of the guest hosts that she show had over the past weeks either.
Wait. Alex Trebek named a Black woman, Laura Coates, to succeed him and they went with a basic white man who also happens to produce the show?
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) August 6, 2021
And they gave LeVar Burton like five days in the middle of the Olympics. Why even bother. Just give it to the white guy from jump https://t.co/fptDMCMemC
In the wake of Trebek’s death, many other names were lobbied as his potential successor, Burton being the top candidate for many fans of Jeopardy.
Now that the show hasn’t hired Burton and didn’t go with Trebek’s pick in Coates, the mess continues to pile up. You hate to see it.
