'Jeopardy!' Frontrunner Mike Richards' Dark Secrets Surfaced As Bosses Gear Up to Announce New Host Soon
Mike Richards, the current "Jeopardy!" permanent host front runner, may have a dark past, and NBC bosses may disqualify him from the role.
After Variety reported that the executive producer of the famous game show was in advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures Television, Richards' involvement with sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits has come to light.
One of the many tweets that became viral read, "I remembered when Mike Richards got sued for sexual harassment. Now he gets to host Jeopardy. #NoWords."
Another tweeted, "Wait mike richards, who no one had heard of until today, who is also an executive producer of jeopardy, CHOSE HIMSELF TO BE THE NEW JEOPARDY HOST??"
A third person also wrote, "Mike Richards I have known who you are for twenty-four hours and that is more than enough time goodbye."
The lawsuits were reportedly filed by two former models of the other famous game show, "The Price is Right," while Richards was a producer there.
Brandi Cochran and Lanishia Cole filed a complaint in 2010, suing FremantleMedia North America and The Price is Right Inc. claiming producers harassed and sidelined her after becoming pregnant.
Cochran didn't mention Richards in the lawsuit and claimed that he did not interact with her after becoming pregnant. However, he reportedly implied she would've been fired if her pregnancy hadn't been kept a secret.
The former TV model also said she was forced to announce her pregnancy on-air. Once she disclosed she was pregnant with twins, Cochran was immediately given less work and was even subject to cruel jokes about gaining weight during pregnancy.
The stress and pressure resulted in one of her twins dying in a miscarriage while the other was born three months prematurely.
Cochran was then pressured to lose all of her pregnancy weight when she returned to work because she wouldn't be allowed if she didn't.
Unfortunately, she found out she had been removed from the show's website.
The lawsuit has been settled.
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In another lawsuit, Cole claimed that Mike Richards limited her modeling work on the show by creating policies that never even existed before.
According to her lawyer, who spoke to the LA Times, "This case is about senior-level men in the entertainment industry exploiting power and control over women by bullying and harassing female talent."
"Ms. Cole did nothing to provoke Richards and Sandler. Once the harassment began, she was powerless to stop it."
In 2013, the lawsuit was settled, but Richards was already dismissed as a defendant before that.
