Jeopardy! host Mike Richards ‘deeply sorry’ and ‘very embarrassed’ after past sexist comments about women resurface

Mike Richards says he is ‘deeply sorry’ for past disparaging comments he made about women (Picture: Daytime Emmy Awards 2021 via Getty Images)

Jeopardy! host Mike Richards has apologized for calling a female co-host a ‘slut’ in unearthed episodes of his old podcast.

The game show’s executive producer made the comments about co-host Beth Triffon during their The Randumb Show podcast, which ran from 2013-2014.

Richards, who was recently appointed as the game show’s new host, issued an apology in a statement about the disparaging comments he made.

The 46-year-old told People: ‘It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago.

‘Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry. The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around.’

He continued: ‘Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes.

The show’s executive producer was just announced as the new host (Picture: Carol Kaelson/Reuters)

‘My responsibilities today as a father, husband, and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.’

Richards’ podcast was touted as a behind-the-scenes look at his then-workplace The Price Is Right, according to an article published by The Ringer.

Throughout the podcast’s 41-episode run, from which the outlet recorded and published a series of audio clips, Richards made multiple inappropriate comments about women.

Mike will be sharing some of hosting duties with The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik (Picture: Jeopardy!/YouTube)

In one clip, taking from a 2014 episode, Richards called his podcast co-host and former assistant Beth Triffon a ‘booth slut’ and a ‘booth ho’ when discussing her work as a model at the CES trade show, The Ringer reported.

Another instance captured by the outlet heard Richards calling Triffon’s female friends ‘really frumpy and overweight’ after seeing a photo of the women in their one-piece swimsuits at a lake.

Mike is taking over as host following the death of iconic host, Alex Trebek (Picture: Joe Scarnici/WireImage)

Triffon reportedly responded that ‘no one’s overweight’ in the picture, before Richards told his co-host: ‘They look fat and not good in the picture. It’s bad.’

Earlier this month, it was announced that Mike, who joined Jeopardy! as an executive producer last year, had been chosen to host the show’s daily program, with The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik presenting primetime and spin-off specials of the quiz show.

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The announcement came following the death of beloved TV presenter Alex Trebek in November 2020, who had hosted the program since 1984.

While many Jeopardy! fans are ecstatic to see Mayim front the show, who impressed viewers when she previously appeared as a guest host, some believed that actor LeVar Burton should have been chosen over Mike for the role.

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