After surrounding the classic game show in controversy by helping to choose himself as new host then being forced to step down as his past history of troubling remarks came back to haunt him, Mike Richards has been fired as the executive producer of Jeopardy!, and judging by social media reactions, he won’t be missed.
In a barrage of tweets that range from “What took you so long?” to roasting Richards for causing all of this by not staying in his lanes, Jeopardy! fans seem to be downright jubilant that he’s been fired while hoping that Sony Pictures Television can restore the show’s reputation, which has been tarnished.
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1432743652284117003
About time. Sony has absolutely botched this whole process. Dragged out a crisis much longer than it needed to be. https://t.co/c2I97dsfto
— Patrick (@prezpat) August 31, 2021
Ill take “Damn too bad” for 500. https://t.co/z659y3rPkG
— BAGOX Powered by AI (@JuanBago) August 31, 2021
fox news contributor mike richards https://t.co/PAeLBcaVhQ
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 31, 2021
Daily Double! https://t.co/RbltoIWGkY
— Andrew Goldstein (@AngeGold) August 31, 2021
We literally told y’all to pick LeVar Burton, and now look….. https://t.co/f7BM0mdpR0
— briauna (@_____bat) August 31, 2021
Remember July, when we had no idea who "Mike Richards" was? https://t.co/lCl66cr8rF
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 31, 2021
https://twitter.com/DannyDeraney/status/1432741076532486145
https://twitter.com/angryblkhoemo/status/1432743132559511566
https://twitter.com/IanKarmel/status/1432741151576973323
In a statement from Suzanne Prete, executive vice president, business and strategy, for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune (which Richards was also fired from), the decision was made after it became clear that his continued presence was basically making things worse. “We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks,” Prete wrote. “That clearly has not happened.”
Interestingly, Richards’ firing arrives after former Jeopardy! champs began speaking publicly about the damage that the host selection process has done to the show. Eleven-time champ Arthur Chu penned an op-ed in the Washington Post that encouraged Sony Pictures Television to honor Alek Trebek’s legacy by taking the focus away from the host and to where Trebek always felt it belong: the contestants.
