Listen Live
St Jude banner
CLOSE
The 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards - Show

Source: Kevin Winter / Getty

After stepping down as the new host of ‘Jeopardy!’ shortly after being picked for that role, Mike Richards is now gone from that show and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ altogether.

Richards is out as executive producer of the popular and legendary syndicated show as of Aug. 31.  The change took effect immediately, according to Buzzfeed News and The New York Times.

Sony EVP Suzanne Prete issued a statement announcing Richards’ departure.

This ends the saga that has been plaguing ‘Jeopardy!’ for several weeks since Richards was named the show’s new host.

From WEWS News 5 Cleveland:

Richards has served as the show’s executive producer since 2020. He hosted a handful of episodes following Trebek’s death last November and was named the show’s permanent daytime host on Aug. 11.

Neither gig ended up lasting to long as Richards was EP for only a year or more and he was only hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ for one day and five episodes of taping as he ended his on-air gig nine days after getting the gig.

So what lead to the spectacular downfall of the extremely brief stint of who was supposed to be the late Alex Trebek’s successor?

A lot of backstage drama and bad behavior:

In the days after he was named the host, Richards’ past came under scrutiny, including a workplace discrimination lawsuit that was levied against him during his time as a producer on “The Price is Right.”

It only gets worse from there:

About a week after he was named the host, The Ringer published a report detailing sexist remarks Richards made on a podcast he hosted between 2013 and 2014.

He felt that one-piece swimsuits made “women look ‘frumpy and overweight.'”  He even asked his female co-host if she had taken nude photos of herself.

The name of the podcast was called “The Randumb Show.”  It truly lived up to the “dumb” part of the name and program.

In the end, all of those incidents have costed Richards not one, but the two jobs he was to have for the upcoming fall season.

Actress Mayim Bialik of ‘Blossom’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ fame is handing hosting duties for the time being until a new permanent host is selected.

Those five episodes with Richards as host is still planning to air as of right now on the week of Sept. 13.

 

Click here to read more.

 

Article Courtesy of WEWS News 5 Cleveland

First Picture Courtesy of CBS Photo Archive and Getty Images

Second Picture Courtesy of Kevin Winter and Getty Images

Radio Legends: Classic Interviews By Rickey Smiley & Tom Joyner
Radio Legends: Rickey Smiley and Tom Joyner
20 photos