Mike Richards has stepped down as host of Jeopardy!, just one week after landing the job.
Mike has been under fire the last few days for offensive and sexist comments he made on a resurfaced podcast, in addition to the resurfacing of a workplace discrimination lawsuit from when he was a co-executive producer on The Price Is Right. He denied the alleged pregnancy discrimination and workplace abuse, and has since apologized for his podcast remarks.
According to a show insider, the announcement was made in a note to staffers today (Friday, August 20th).
"It pains me that these past incidents and comments have cast such a shadow on Jeopardy! as we look to start a new chapter," his note to staff began.
"As I mentioned last week, 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. As such, I will be stepping down as host effective immediately. As a result, we will be canceling production today.
Richards will stay on as executive producer of the show.
Source: Yahoo