The Jeopardy! – Mike Richards decision gets all the more questionable
In a new, fantastic report over at The Ringer, it is revealed that he co-hosted at one point a Price is Right-themed podcast called the The Randumb Show 2013 to 2014. Within that span of time he made a number of disparaging comments about women’s appearances and also suggested his co-host try out for Taiwanese roles because of her short stature. You can listen to some comments at the link here — after the website reached out to Richards and Sony, the podcast episodes were scrubbed from the internet.
Richards did release a statement to The Ringer after being contacted about the podcast, one where he said the following:
“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.”
Beyond the comments themselves, perhaps the most shocking thing is that Sony reportedly was not even aware of the podcast’s existence prior to being contacted by The Ringer. If it is your job to vet a replacement for Alex Trebek, shouldn’t you be looking in every nook and cranny? It’s hard to say if the podcast’s existence would have changed the final outcome of the search at all, but the lack of awareness here remains shocking.
The report also includes a number of other fascinating tidbits, whether it be Richards’ longstanding desire to host a big-name game show to comments from Ken Jennings, who was admittedly “disappointed” with the way parts of the search were handled. (Jennings has faced some controversy of his own over the past year.)
Will any of this change Sony’s final decision here? That remains to be seen, but we welcome your thoughts on the subject below. (Photo: Sony.)