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One thing I remember from summer and winter breaks is making sure we switched the channel over to Channel 7 at 11:00 AM to watch Alex Trebek lead a trivia game to see who can answer the most questions and make the most money. It was something that my dad, twin sister, and I would watch almost every weekday on our breaks. When I was in high school, I was on the Quiz Bowl team, so I would get pretty competitive about knowing the answers. I haven’t watched it as much in recent years, mainly due to Sony Pictures Television changing the time slot from 11:00 AM to 4:30 PM. 

After Alex Trebek's death on November 8, 2020, Sony was slow to announce their plan for the new host. They started with replaying some of the Greatest Of All Time moments and episodes. Eventually, they switched over to Ken Jennings as a guest host for the first 6 weeks of episodes after Trebek's last episode aired. Jennings was a great choice for a guest host, because he had a personal connection with Trebek, and viewers had watched him play (USA Today). Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak, a total of 74 consecutive games won (NPR).


After the 6 weeks with Ken Jennings were up, Sony started putting in a different celebrity guest host every week, including Savannah Guthrie and George Stephanopoulos. Many fans thought they would be part of the process to select a new host. However, they were shocked when Mike Richards, the executive producer of “Jeopardy!” was named to be Alex Trebek's successor on August 11, 2021 (National Review). It seemed like the long, and drawn out guest host selection was not for viewers to decide who they wanted to see behind the podium. In fact, it seemed that viewer opinions were mostly ignored when Richards was appointed to be the new host (Forbes).


Richards was actually the public face of the search for a new host. Everyone knew he was the executive producer, so it seemed that he would also be deciding on who the new host would be. However, it turned out that he was not the primary decision maker. This did not keep people from speculating that Richards might have “put his finger on the scale” to push the decision towards himself (ABC Columbia).

After Mike Richards was announced to be the host of the popular trivia show, following Alex Trebek, someone was not happy, and decided to do some research into Richards’ past. It turns out, that Richards had a podcast in 2013 and 2014, and in this podcast, had made multiple derogatory comments towards minorities as well as women (NBC News). If that wasn’t enough to turn opinions around, it also came out that Richards had lawsuits against him from models on “The Price is Right,” due to harassment and discrimination (ABC Columbia).


When the podcast comments as well as the litigations came to light, Richards immediately stepped down as host, just a week after it was announced he would take over in Trebek’s place (National Review). Richards also released a statement saying: “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” (Salon).


Sony now has to face a public relations storm over this issue with Mike Richards. When Richards stepped down, it was so sudden that when Forbes published their article on the topic, the "Jeopardy!" website still showed Richards being the next host. Hours later, Richards was nowhere to be found on the website, and there was no explanation from Sony (Forbes).


Since the allegations came to light and Richards stepped down from the host podium, many PR specialists have weighed in on the topic. Howard Breuer, CEO of Newsroom Public Relations, said that everyone in the public eye should see this experience as “a lesson that the digital trail left by your impulsive and potentially offensive behavior and comments will follow you wherever you go” (The List) Breuer continued in the article from The List by saying that Mike Richards had a responsibility to “come clean” about past comments and been honest about what he said. Holly Baird, a public relations consultant from Southern California, said that it seemed “almost as if they [Sony] got lazy and said, ‘You know what, he’s in close proximity, so let’s just use him,’ instead of rebranding and taking the opportunity to shift” (NBC News).


One of the worst parts about this entire crisis is that it was avoidable (USA Today). I actually wondered as I was writing this, “Why didn’t Sony start looking for a new host when Alex Trebek was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in March of 2019?” They would have had plenty of time to find a new host, and one that Alex himself approved of. Since they didn’t do that, they have to deal with the fallout from this. Richards was proactive, and did step down on his own, which was in the best interest of the show. After the fact, Sony released this statement to the Hollywood Reporter: 
"We support Mike's decision to step down as host. We were surprised this week to learn of Mike's 2013/2014 podcast and the offensive language he used in the past. We have spoken with him about our concerns and our expectations moving forward. 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."

I think Sony was just dismissive of what actually had happened, until the fans made them take action. Sony didn't want to let Richards go as executive producer after the time and effort he put into the show, so they put him in "sensitivity training" as well as gave him a "minder" who would oversee him to "curb inappropriate behaviors" (Salon). As of September 16, 2021, Sony finally said that Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings would take over in turns as interim host until they find a new, new host (CNN).

Ultimately, I think Sony was unsuccessful in handling this crisis. A lot of fans now will not trust a new "Jeopardy!" host, because it seems unlikely that Sony will ask for the fans' opinions on it. Since the news break that Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings would host the show, LeVar Burton, one of the fan favorites for the host position, has said he doesn't want to be the new host (Yahoo News). The future for the coveted spot behind the podium is still uncertain, and I'm not sure how Sony will handle it from here. 

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