Last year, the entertainment industry lost an icon with the passing of former Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. Since then, those behind the production have hunted far and wide for a candidate to fill the late and great Trebek’s shoes. They even featured guest hosts ranging from actor LeVar Burton to NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers who brought an interesting twist to the classic game show. Ultimately however, they decided to go with an internal candidate and gave Executive Producer Mike Richards the job as the new host of Jeopardy!. His tenure did not last long however, with Richards resigning earlier this week amidst controversy over derogatory statements he made back in 2013.
The decision to give Richards the job as host confused many from the beginning, confused as to why the production crew of Jeopardy! would opt to hire from within. Richards never even got the opportunity to see himself on television as the host, resigning this week well before those episodes are scheduled to air next month. This was a byproduct of controversy over derogatory statements he made against women and other groups of people on a podcast back in 2013. While those clips have since been purged from the internet, Richards has resigned as host and issued a public statement stating “it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show.” Now Jeopardy! will once again be on the hunt for a new host.
While Richards’ resignation has been celebrated by many, despite the current circumstances he will remain as the showrunner for Jeopardy!. While this decision has also been criticized, most are simply thankful he will no longer be the face of one of the country’s most iconic television programs. Burton and Rodgers’ names have been thrown around to return to the set and step in as the new full time host, though nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Only time will tell who the next host of the iconic game show will be.
