Front Runner To Host ‘Jeopardy!’ In Jeopardy of Being Canceled Over Discrimination Allegations

Ever since the untimely death of long-time host Alex Trebek, producers on ‘Jeopardy!’ have gone on quite a journey to try and find a new host. Plenty of famous faces have graced the stage, and essentially done live auditions to see if they can fill Trebek’s shoes. Just when everyone thought that the search was over and Mike Richards was going to be the one to get the gig. Ghosts from his past have come back to haunt him. Now, whether Richards will be the new host of the show or not, is up in the air!  

Richards was sued 10 years ago by models on the ‘Price is Right’ where he also served as executive producer. The ladies filed discrimination charges against Richards. They had initially been awarded 8.5 million dollars. Richards appealed and was ultimately able to settle out of court. Still, the incident has come back to bite as he was getting ready to take on this new massive role. Richards addressed the situation in a memo that was sent to all of the staff of the show.    

Mike Richards wanted to get out ahead of these allegations coming back to haunt him. As we mentioned, he sent out a memo to the staff on the show. In it, he addressed the allegations, claiming they don’t reflect who he is. Part of it read, 

“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,’ 

Part of the memo also reveled that Richards was effectively in talks to become the permanent host of the show. At this point, though, nothing is set in stone. He said that he was essentially already offered the gig. However, there had been no final decision made on the matter. Kind of an odd sequence to say the least. As an executive producer, he can potentially have a major say in the final decision. He mentioned though, 

“No final decisions have been made, and discussions with me and other potential hosts are still ongoing.” 

https://twitter.com/Jeopardy/status/1422323827678138368

Again, there’s no official word whether his past actions effectively will disqualify Mike Richards or not. What we do know is that the show has had massive success rotating guest hosts. Particularly, when they’ve been able to get people like Green Packers QB Aaron Rodgers to host the show. A lot of these guests hosts, though, are probably not open to a full-time gig. The rotating host method could still be the way to go. Richards mentioned in his memo,

“Our success over that time with our guest-host rotation, including the more than $3 million we raised for charities, is a singular achievement and a testament to your talent and dedication.”

https://twitter.com/Jeopardy/status/1424396357876342793