In August 2021, Richards briefly succeeded Alex Trebek as host of the daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! after Trebek's death in 2020. However, Richards resigned as host later that month due to criticism over offensive comments that he made on The Randumb Show podcast, as well as wrongful termination and sexual harassment lawsuits from models during his time as the executive producer of The Price Is Right. Richards hosted only a week's worth of episodes, which aired in September 2021 as part of the show's 38th season.[2][3]
Richards began his career in college where he created, wrote, produced, and hosted a weekly late-night comedy talk show called The Randumb Show at Pepperdine University. The show featured celebrity guests including Kim Fields, Casey Kasem and Anson Williams.[1] Richards went on to intern for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Between 1996 and 2003, he regularly performed stand-up comedy in Los Angeles.[4]
From 2009 to 2019, Richards was the executive producer of The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal.[8] He was also a candidate to host The Price Is Right in 2007 before Drew Carey was chosen.[9] In interviews of those two shows, Richards was described as "exclusionary and dismissive of longtime show employees"; he fired announcer Rich Fields and held on-air auditions, similar to the ones he later used on Jeopardy!, to hire George Gray as Fields's replacement. He also dismissed longtime producer, and longtime friend of Bob Barker, Roger Dobkowitz.[10] Richards often neglected Deal and was frequently absent from day-to-day operations. A post-producer was fired after sarcastically making an introduction that drew attention to Richards's absences.[4]
Beginning in 2013, Richards hosted a podcast, The Randumb Show, which was promoted as a look at the production of Price. The Ringer reported that Richards, "repeatedly used offensive language and disparaged women's bodies".[4] In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League criticized his disparaging stereotyping of women, Jews, Asians, and the disabled on the podcast and called for an investigation,[11] after which Richards apologized for the material and took the podcast offline.[4][12]
Richards was the subject of two wrongful termination lawsuits from models on The Price Is Right; one lawsuit was by Brandi Cochran, who alleged that CBS and FremantleMedia discriminated against her by firing her after she became pregnant with twins,[13] and another was by Lanisha Cole, who claimed that Richards and fellow producer Adam Sandler (not to be confused with actor and comedian Adam Sandler) berated her in front of her peers and wrongfully terminated her.[3][14]The Hollywood Reporter stated that Richards made a disparaging comment about Cochran's pregnancy at a 2008 party,[13] and that Richards claimed she was fired because he thought that she "would not take us to great."[2]
GSN: The Pyramid and Divided
Richards hosted GSN's 2012 revival of The Pyramid[15] and the network's American version of Divided, which aired on the network from 2017 to 2018.[16]
Sony Pictures Television: Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!
After Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek died on November 8, 2020, Richards appeared at the start of the November 9 episode to pay tribute to him.[22] Richards later filled in for two weeks as a guest host of the show, with his first episode airing on February 22, 2021.[23] On August 4, it was reported that Richards had entered "advanced negotiations" to become the permanent host, though with other candidates still in contention.[24][25] After that announcement, a lawsuit filed against Richards and others during his tenure as the executive producer of The Price Is Right resurfaced, causing controversy.[25][26][27] On August 11, it was announced that Richards would succeed Trebek as host of the daily show, with Jeopardy! guest host Mayim Bialik hosting future prime-time specials and spinoffs.[28][29] However, on August 20, it was announced that Richards would step down after offensive comments he had made in the past emerged.[30][4] It was also alleged that he had multiple conflicts of interest while participating in the host selection process.[4] The five episodes Richards filmed the previous day, the show's first day of production on the new season,[31] aired in September to kick off the show's 38th season.[32]
Richards initially remained executive producer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! after resigning as host, with the backing of Sony Pictures and the head of its television division, Ravi Ahuja.[33] However, on August 31, 2021, a week and a half after Richards resigned as permanent host, he was fired as executive producer of both shows. Michael Davies from Embassy Row served as interim executive producer for Jeopardy! following Richards's departure,[34][nb 1] and on April 14, 2022, was announced to be taking the role full-time.[36] On March 23, 2022, it was announced that Bellamie Blackstone would take over the executive producer role for Wheel of Fortune.[35] Bialik and Ken Jennings were eventually chosen as co-hosts for the syndicated version of Jeopardy! on July 27, 2022.[37]
Personal life
Richards and his wife, Stephanie, have two sons.[1]
^Despite claims that Michael Davies would serve as an interim executive producer of Wheel of Fortune after Mike Richards' departure, he never actually assumed that role, with the show's senior producer Steve Schwartz serving as an uncredited interim executive producer for the rest of the show's 39th season before settling with Bellamie Blackstone in the 40th season.[35]
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