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Incoming Jeopardy Host Mike Richards Is Out

By News & Guts

The newly named host of “Jeopardy” has stepped down after it surfaced that he made past misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and anti-Asian comments. Production of the show began on Thursday with Mike Richards as host, but Friday morning he released a statement saying:

“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.” 

According to The Hollywood Reporter many of the remarks took place on a podcast Richards hosted back in 2013-14:

Richards comments included calling his female co-host a “booth slut” for modeling at CES and seeming to make a Jewish stereotype joke (after somebody else made a comment about big noses, Richards reportedly said, “Ixnay on the ose-nay. She’s not an ew-Jay”). Sony had no comment about the ADL tweet.

Among the other comments Richards made: Calling his co-host’s friends “really frumpy and overweight” and saying, “They all look terrible. … They look fat and not good,” reportedly using a derogatory word for little people and a derogatory term for the mentally disabled

When Richards was named host, controversy surfaced immediately surrounding his past work at CBS. CNBC writes:
During Richards’ tenure as an executive producer of “The Price is Right,” a discrimination lawsuit was filed by Brandi Cochran in 2010 against CBS and FremantleMedia. The suit claimed that the model was not invited back to the show after she took time off for her pregnancy. The case was ultimately settled, but Richards faced additional pregnancy discrimination claims beyond Cochran, which were not successful.

Richards will reportedly remain executive producer of “Jeopardy.” The search for a new host will resume as guest hosts fill in.

Mayim Bialik will host  “Jeopardy” prime-time specials and spinoff series.

Watch more from MSNBC above.