The past nine days since Mike Richards was officially selected as the host of Jeopardy! — and the successor to Alex Trebek’s enduring legacy — has been distressingly marked with a bevy of scandals and fan discontentment. In an unsurprising turn of events, Richards’ short-lived tenure has come to an end.
After Richards (who currently serves as an executive producer on the show) was officially tapped alongside The Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik for the coveted position, fans decried the selection as a grave instance of company favoritism. With the cycle of celebrity tryouts behind the lectern featuring Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric and the internet’s front runner LeVar Burton, many pointed to Richard’s lackluster resonance with the trivia game show’s viewership. Criticism from the fans, however, was also accompanied by a wave of scandals and workplace allegations.
Richards’ exit comes just one day after Anti-Defamation League called for an investigation into “pattern” of offensive comments after The Ringer reported that he made “disparaging remarks about Jews, women & Asians” on the comedy podcast “The Randumb Show” he hosted from 2013 and 2014.
According to The Ringer’s report, a review of all 41 episodes of the podcast — which were available online until every episode was pulled on Tuesday — revealed that Richards repeatedly used sexist, offensive language and disparaged women’s bodies. In a 2014 episode regarding the iCloud hack of intimate celebrity photos, Richards asked his female assistant and co-host if they had ever taken nude photographs or “booby pictures.” He would later ask to go through her phone and she declined to share the images with him.
In his former time as EP of The Price Is Right, Richards was involved in an alarming lawsuit where the show’s models alleged that he discriminated against them for being pregnant. In recent memo obtained by Deadline, Richards wrote to the Jeopardy! staff, ”I want you all to know that 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.”
“We support Mike’s decision to step down as host,” Sony Pictures TV said in a statement via Variety. “We were surprised this week to learn of Mike’s 2013/2014 podcast and the offensive language he used in the past. We have spoken with him about our concerns and our expectations moving forward.”
In their statement which noted that the search for a new host, Sony continued, “Mike has been with us for the last two years and has led the ‘Jeopardy!’ team through the most challenging time the show has ever experienced. It is our hope that as EP he will continue to do so with professionalism and respect.”
