“Jeopardy” host Ken Jennings apologizes to female contestant for sexist clue: 'A little problematic'
Awkward for $1,000, please.
It was up to Jeopardy host Ken Jennings to smooth over an awkward situation during Monday's game.
In the Jeopardy category of "Complete the Rhyming Phrase," contestants were given the phrase, "Men seldom make passes at...." The answer was "girls who wear glasses."
Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty
Ken Jennings hosts 'Jeopardy' in 2024Yes, this phrase is outdated, but what was worse is that contestant Heather Ryan, a health program director from Binghamton, N.Y., was yes, wearing glasses.
Related: Jeopardy fans can't believe Ken Jennings accepted mispronunciation of 'larynx' as correct response
Jennings called it "a little problematic," and then added, "sorry, Heather."
Contestant Will Wallace, the champion going into the game, added his own, "very."
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It would've been fun to see Ryan win after that, but she ended up coming in second by a jaw-dropping $1, per the meticulous J! Archive.
Jeopardy in its current form has been on the air since 1984. The late Alex Trebek hosted it from the beginning until his death in 2020, with his final episode airing in January 2021.
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After some drama over the transition — and a slew of guest hosts, including NFL star Aaron Rodgers and actor LeVar Burton — Jennings and The Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik took over. She later signed off, leaving Jennings at the helm permanently. Even before he started, Jennings had been a favorite of fans, having won the show an astounding, record-setting 74 times in a row during Trebek's tenure. He took home $2.5 million.
As a host, Jennings has been grateful.
"I loved growing up with Jeopardy where Alex was the host of that show for almost 38 years, and people just kind of felt like he was part of their family, and it's impossible to fill those shoes," he told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2023. "But it's such an honor and and hopefully I look forward to 37 more years of doing it, when I'll be a very, very old man."
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