Following the passing of beloved host Alex Trebek, the producers of Jeopardy! were tasked with the unenviable task of finding a permanent replacement for the iconic game show figure. After testing out a series of rotating guest hosts, executive producer Mike Richards finally named a replacement for Trebek in August 2021.
There was just one small problem: The person Mike Richards picked was, well, Mike Richards.
However, Richards’ tenure would end up being infamously short. After a series of controversial remarks were unearthed, Richards was fired, and Jeopardy! went through an extended limbo, which has led to Ken Jennings as the long-term main host after Mayim Bialik was let go as co-host.
In a new interview, Richards has opened up about the debacle, and he has an interesting take on what really happened to his brief time at Trebek’s old podium. Namely, that all of the hate he received was because everyone was mad about COVID?
Via PEOPLE:
Richards left his position at Jeopardy!, and says the fallout was both painful and frightening when it came to the hate he and his family received. He notes that it was COVID, the country was divided over everything from politics to vaccines, and that he definitely bore the brunt of many people’s anger.
He also says that a lot of what was written about him was half-true, or taken out of context. “But by then everyone was like, ‘Oh he’s just a horrible person.'” He adds, “It was the price you pay for getting thrust into the zeitgeist in a very inopportune moment.”
While that’s certainly a take, Richards is self-aware enough to realize that his ascension to permanent host didn’t have the best optics, which is something he now realizes in hindsight.
“Everyone was so angry because it looked like I had gone into a room and picked myself,” Richards said. “And that’s not what happens in television, but I understood that that’s what the outward appearances were.”
(Via PEOPLE)
