Mike Richards was selected as the new host of Jeopardy… for a couple of days at least, and then he suddenly just quit. So…Why did he quit? Because cancel culture is so ridiculously out of control. The show had already begun production when all of the sudden the old stories came out of the woodwork for him. In Mike’s case, an expose by The Ringer was about all it took, they found his old comedy podcasts and it just took one piece of bad press. Granted, it was a pretty devastating article if you’re a woke, cancel-culture snowflake.
Some quick highlights. Ask yourself if this is the kind of stuff that somebody should spike their career over.
- “September 4, 2014, after the iCloud photo hack, which exposed intimate images of numerous female celebrities, Richards asked his assistant and his cohost—both much younger women—whether they had ever taken nude photos. When his cohost said that she had sometimes taken photos of herself when she thought she looked cute, Richards responded, “Like booby pictures? What are we looking at?” Later, he asked to go through her phone; when she declined to share an image with him, he asked whether it was “of [her] boobies.”
- “Richards also said on another 2014 episode that one-piece swimsuits made women look “really frumpy and overweight,” and made derogatory remarks about Haiti, Jewish people, and women who work booths at conventions, referring to his cohost (who had worked in that capacity) as a “booth ho,” a “booth slut,” and a “boothstitute.”
According to The Ringer, the controversy prompted the Anti-Defamation League to call upon Jeopardy! producer Sony Pictures Television to investigate and the ADL’s narc-job on some off-color humor did him in. This is peak 2021 folks.
Richards was also flagged for “multiple lawsuits” from his days as Executive Producer of The Price Is Right, the single suit cited was, however, dismissed before it could be settled. And unfortunately instead of embracing the defense of ‘IT WAS A JOKE, YOU IDIOTS!’ as he should’ve (also known as the Count Dankula defense), Richards made the single cardinal error in this sort of case: he apologized.
The Apology And The Quit:
It’s Like Hitting Self-Destruct When You’re Under Attack (You Still Die, But You Feel Better?)
Richards, for cracking some jokes that would’ve made Howard Stern yawn while he was still on terrestrial radio, stuff that would’ve put Opie and Anthony to sleep, and for being named as one of the multiple defendants in a case against the whole The Price Is Right production team dove the biggest opportunity of his career straight into the ground. And so, we’ll never know what Mike Richards could’ve brought to Jeopardy audiences. Another sacrifice to the cancel-culture mob.
“I want to apologize to each of you for the unwanted negative attention that has come to Jeopardy! over the last few weeks and for the confusion and delays this is now causing. I know I have a lot of work to do to regain your trust and confidence.”
And so, we’ll never know what Mike Richards could’ve brought to Jeopardy audiences. Another sacrifice to the cancel-culture mob.
Mike Richards sent the following statement to the Jeopardy! staff today: pic.twitter.com/hDTmXCFThP
— Claire McNear (@clairemcnear) August 9, 2021
