Somehow, despite all the controversy, Richards managed to keep his job as the executive producer of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune — until today.
In recent weeks, the normally quiet corner of the pop culture universe occupied by Jeopardy! has been embroiled in one controversy after another, after the full-time job of replacing the late Alex Trebek as host was given to the show’s executive producer, Mike Richards. Richards’ announcement was met with some surprise, given that, as executive producer, he was nominally the person in charge of finding the Trebek’s replacement, and could have potentially biased the process in his favor.
Richards apologized for the remarks, but amidst mounting pressure, he quit the job as the new Jeopardy! host after taping just one week of episodes.
11 days after Richards announced he was stepping down as Jeopardy! host he’s now lost his job as the EP of both shows.