Fired 'Jeopardy' Host Speaks Out, Blames Everyone But Himself

Former Jeopardy host and executive producer Mike Richards may have only spent one day as the face of the beloved quiz show, but he will go down in TV history as one of the series’ most controversial figures. Now, two years after being dismissed from the show, he’s finally speaking out, largely to say that he shouldn’t be blamed for what happened.

For decades, Alex Trebek served as host of Jeopardy, becoming one of the great TV icons and a mainstay of pop culture. Trebek sadly passed away in 2020, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of fans and a huge question: who will host Jeopardy now?

Since then, the long-running quiz show has been a morass of controversies, a strange fate for a show largely known for its quiet tone and understated aesthetic. Initially, Jeopardy producers brought in a series of guest hosts, who were largely assumed to be trying out for a permanent role on the show. The roster included longtime quiz show figures like Ken Jennings and Buzzy Cohen, TV personalities like Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Buck, talk show host Mehmet Oz, and actress Mayim Bialik, and even professional football player Aaron Rodgers.

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Fans were shocked, however, when it was announced that Mike Richards, an executive producer on the show with little on-screen experience, was announced as the permanent host of Jeopardy. Even more shockingly, Richards almost immediately stepped down from the role (and was let go from the show shortly after) after controversial remarks he had made on podcasts and allegations of misbehavior at The Price Is Right surfaced.

Mike Richards has finally spoken up (via People) about his brief tenure as a Jeopardy host, and, to hear him tell it, none of the controversy was his fault. Instead, the blame seems to be on vague “people” who wanted him to lose his job in the first place and producers who blindsided him by asking him to take a job that he voluntarily took.

Richards denies the accusations that he essentially used his power as executive producer to appoint himself host of Jeopardy, saying that he had performed well for a testing group and had been offered the job. He says, “No one was more surprised than me. They told me, ‘We’d like you to be the host of the syndicated version of Jeopardy‘ I paused, and said, ‘Oh wow. Thank you. What’s the media plan?’ Because I was very concerned that this was going to be scrutinized as closely as a Presidential election. There was widespread belief that whoever got the job first wouldn’t make it.”

As the former host tells it, he felt “scrutinized” immediately and that he had basically been set up to fail. He continues, “Everyone was so angry because it looked like I had gone into a room and picked myself and that’s not what happens in television, but I understood that that’s what the outward appearances were.”

Ultimately, Mike Richards seems to feel that, as soon as he became Jeopardy host, people were out to get him, saying, “I felt like there was this rush to judgment, and a lot of people got joy in saying, ‘I got you.'”

He also acknowledges that he stepped down from the position after The Ringer released a report about numerous instances of offensive language and misogynist comments that he had made as the host of The Randumb Show; this included asking younger female employees if they had taken nude pictures of themselves and making disparaging remarks about women’s bodies in swimsuits.

At the time, Richards issued a statement:

“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago. Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry. The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around. Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes. My responsibilities today as a father, husband, and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.”

Notably, Richard describes his stint as The Randumb Show host, which lasted from 2013 to 2014″ as a “moment” rather than 61 episodes worth of content.

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It did not help the public perception of Mike Richards as Jeopardy host when it emerged he had been the subject of two separate wrongful termination lawsuits during his employment as an executive producer of The Price Is Right, both of which he was eventually dropped from. Still, the damage was done, and, according to Richards’s use of passive language regarding his career choices, it was “it was quite a firestorm that engulfed my family.”

Still, Mike Richards would still take a job hosting a game show: “If I pitched a show and someone asked, ‘Would you be you hosting it?’ I say, only if you think I’m the right man for the job.”

What do you think of Mike Richards’ comments about his period as Jeopardy host? Tell us in the comments below!