Mike Richards steps down as "Jeopardy!" host after offensive comments resurface
20 August 2021
Mike Richards, the new host of "Jeopardy!," announced Friday he's stepping down after derogatory comments he made about women and Jewish people resurfaced in recent weeks.
Driving the news: Richards, who was named a co-host nine days ago, made the offensive comments in 2013 and 2014 from now-deleted episodes of his podcast, "The Randumb Show," The Ringer reports. Sony said Richards will remain the show's executive producer.
- Richards repeatedly used offensive language to describe women's bodies, called his co-host a derogatory term for people of short stature and used the same slur to describe actress Kristin Chenoweth, per The Ringer.
The big picture: In a statement posted to Twitter, Richards said Sony will begin its search for a new host while the show will bring back guest hosts in the meantime.
- "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 a statement. "I know I have a lot of work to do to regain your trust and confidence."
Go deeper: “A Smile With Sharp Teeth”: Mike Richards’s Rise to ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Sparks Questions About His Past
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.