A little more than two and a half years after he was quickly fired as host on Jeopardy!, Mike Richards reflects on the situation.
In August 2021, Richards was announced as the new host of Jeopardy! following Alex Trebek’s passing. However, he quickly stepped down from the role after offensive comments he made in a podcast years prior resurfaced. He issued a statement about his departure.
“It pains me that these past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on Jeopardy!” Mike Richards stated in a letter. “As we look to start a new chapter. As I mentioned last week, I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show and was thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role.”
“However, over the last several days 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. As such, I will be stepping down as host effective immediately. As a result, we will be canceling production today.”
During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Richards spoke about what led to him getting the host role in the first place.
“We never discussed how to replace Alex once we knew he was sick,” Richards stated about finding a new host for the long-running game show. “A conversation like that would have been so disrespectful.”
Mike Richards then said that he and the Jeopardy! team had talked about people coming in and guest hosting if Trebek got too sick. “But we always knew Alex come back until the day he decided he couldn’t.”
Mike Richards Was Selected to Host ‘Jeopardy!’ After a Series of Guest Hosts
After Alex Trebek passed away in October 2020, Mike Richards said that the Jeopardy! executives decided to try out guest hosts. However, they knew they couldn’t replace Trebek overnight.
“I actually thought we should just name a new host,” Richards continued. “But when Alex passed away, it was hard on everyone. Jeopardy! fans, the country… there’s was a whole staff of people where he was the only boss they’ve ever known.”
Following a series of guest hosts, Mike Richards was selected to take over Trebek’s Jeopardy! duties. “No one was more surprised than me,” Richards admitted. “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.”
Richards then shared that everyone was so angry because they thought he had just picked himself for the role. “And that’s not what happens in television, but I understood that that’s what the outward appearances were.”
Mike Richards Hosted for One Day Before He Was Investigated
Richards said he hosted one day before the anti-defamation league was called in to do an investigation on him. After the word got out about his past comments and an investigation was done, Richards stepped down.
“We can disagree about politics, we can disagree about who hosts Jeopardy!,” he said. “We can disagree about liking a final Jeopardy! clue. And we should. But I felt like there was a this rush to judgment, and a lot of people got joy in saying, ‘I got you.’”
Despite the situation, Richard said he isn’t bitter. He thinks Ken Jennings is a great host. “I always thought Ken was the guy,” he added.