Barely a week after being pressured to step down as the new permanent host of “Jeopardy,” Mike Richards has now been relieved of all responsibilities in connection with “Jeopardy and “Wheel of Fortune.”
Mike Richards Fired as Executive Producer of ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ https://t.co/nmo2yjSojY
— Variety (@Variety) August 31, 2021
From Variety:
The news was announced by Suzanne Prete, executive vice president, business and strategy, “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” in a memo to staff. Prete said she would be also be taking a more active day-to-day role on the shows moving forward.
Richards’ exit comes a little more than a week after he was forced to step down as “Jeopardy!” host, just nine days after he was tapped to succeed the legendary Alex Trebek as the face of the beloved quiz show.
Richards gave up the job as host after ugly statements that he had made on an eight-year-old podcast series resurfaced, and that followed concerns over the host selection process — with whispers that Richards, as host, was able to calibrate the search to replace Trebek in his favor.
And it also came following the unearthing of discrimination lawsuits that multiple models working on “Price Is Right,” which he had produced at the time, filed in 2010 and 2011.
Read the full article here.