Mike Richards Out As "Jeopardy!" Host Amid Backlash

[Heartbreak Anthem]

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Mike Richards will not host the syndicated Jeopardy! after multiple controversies from his past emerged in the last few weeks. He just announced his exit in an internal memo.

The show already had started production, which has been canceled for today as the search for a permanent host resumes. Meanwhile, guest hosts once again will be stepping in, with Richards remaining an executive producer.

“I want to apologize to each of you for the unwanted negative attention that has come to Jeopardy! over the last few weeks and for the confusion and delays this is now causing,” Richards said in his memo (read it in full below). “I know I have a lot of work to do to regain your trust and confidence.”

The news comes on the heels of a Ringer report about offensive and sexist comments towards his female co-hosts and guests Richards had made on The Randumb Show, a podcast he hosted in 2013 and 2014, along with off-color remarks about Haitians and Jews. The controversy prompted the Anti-Defamation League to call upon Jeopardy! producer Sony Pictures Television to investigate and proved to be too serious for Richards to recover from without tarnishing the iconic Jeopardy! brand.

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