Posted in: ABC, streaming, TV | Tagged: ABC, Alex Trebek, jeopardy, Mike Richards, The Price is Right

Jeopardy! Host Mike Richards Called Out for Past Podcast Comments

If new daily Jeopardy! host Mike Richards (with The Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik hosting prime time and special spinoffs) thought being name long-running game show's permanent host would put to rest questions about his past, he learned otherwise on Wednesday. News website The Ringer posted an extensive report earlier today after screening episodes of a podcast Richards hosted from 2013 to 2014 (41 episodes) called The Randumb Show that contends Richards repeatedly used offensive language and was known to disparage women's bodies. Here's a look at two examples cited by Claire McNear in their report:

In an episode published on 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."

On another 2014 episode, Richards said that one-piece swimsuits made women look "really frumpy and overweight," echoing the portion of Cochran's lawsuit that mentions Richards's preferences about swimwear.

Not long after Sony and Richards' agents were asked to comment on their reporting, The Ringer noted that the audio of every episode was taken down and the podcast's hosting site was deleted. While Sony has not officially commented on the reporting, The Ringer also alleges that a Sony source revealed to them that the studio was unaware of the podcast recordings until Sony was contacted to comment on them. For his part, Richards emailed The Ringer a statement regarding his comments and actions while hosting the podcast.

"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," the Jeopardy! host wrote. "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."

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Richards was "in advanced negotiations" with Sony Pictures TV to be the long-running game show's permanent host (though a final deal was not officially in place at the time). Shortly after, Richards' involvement in past lawsuits involving The Price is Right models Brandi Cochran, Lanisha Cole, and others during his time producing the Bob Barker and Drew Carrey-hosted game show came to light on social media before news sites then began to cover the matter (you can look back on our coverage here). Richards addressed both the hosting rumors and the allegations leveled against him in those past lawsuits via a memo sent to Jeopardy! employees (which Variety obtained). Regarding the allegations, Richards claimed his "comments and actions have been characterized" and that the allegations in the complaints don't "reflect the reality of who I am or how we worked together on 'The Price is Right.'"

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