Mike Richards Has Been Fired As Executive Producer From Jeopardy And Wheel Of Fortune

Beleaguered former Jeopardy host has just been fired as executive producer of that show and also Wheel of Fortune, according to Variety. Richards has been the center of controversy ever since he was selected to succeed Alex Trebek on the popular game show.

Variety credits the news to a memo issued to Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune workers by Suzanne Prete, executive vice president of business and strategy for those shows: "I'm writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy effective immediately. We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened."

Richards stepped down from the show recently, shortly after taking the hosting gig. The announcement that Richards will no longer present the new season of the classic game show follows the backlash to a series of sexist, racist, and homophobic comments that he made on a podcast between 2013 and 2014. Richards had said previously that he didn't want his past behavior to overshadow either show.

After Trebek's death in November last year, the series went through a series of guest hosts, including LeVar Burton and Aaron Rodgers, with the expectation that the new host would be chosen from these. However, on August 11, it was announced that Richards himself would be the regular host, with Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik set to host special episodes and prime-time tournaments.

With Richards now out, the show is expected to yet again have a round-robin of guest hosts sitting in.