Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will be hosting "Jeopardy!" for the remainder of the year following the ousting of Mike Richards.
Sony Pictures initially announced that it would introduce a revolving door of celebrity guest hosts while it sought a permanent replacement for Richards, but that plan has fallen away. Instead, Bialik will be hosting enough shows to carry "Jeopardy" through to Nov. 5 and thereafter she will split hosting duties with Jennings according to their schedules, Sony Pictures confirmed to Fox News.
Richards, who was executive producer of "Jeopardy!," was named the new host last month but stepped down from his role several days later, after offensive and sexist comments he made on a podcast years ago resurfaced. He announced his departure in a statement shared to Twitter by The Ringer’s Claire McNear, explaining that it pained him to see how "past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on 'Jeopardy!' as we look to start a new chapter."
"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," Richards said.
It was reported at the time that he would stay on as executive producer and for a time it appeared as if "Jeopardy!" would be keeping Richards involved in the popular game show at some capacity. This appeared to have been confirmed by Sony in a statement to Fox News at the time that read, "Mike has been with us for the last two years and has led the Jeopardy! team through the most challenging time the show has ever experienced. It is our hope that as EP he will continue to do so with professionalism and respect."
However, he was abruptly axed from this position as well.
"We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened," Suzanne Prete, an executive with "Jeopardy!," said in a memo confirmed by Sony to the Associated Press.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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