Richards out at ‘Wheel,’ ‘Jeopardy!’
Mike Richards is out as executive producer of “Jeopardy!,” days after he exited as the quiz show’s newly appointed host because of past misogynistic and other comments.
Richards is also no longer executive producer of “Wheel of Fortune,” according to a memo to staff that was confirmed by Sony, which produces both shows.
“We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at ‘Jeopardy!’ it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened,” Suzanne Prete, an executive with the game shows, said in the memo.
Richards had signed an overall development deal with Sony in 2019, and became executive producer of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” in May 2020.
Anointing Richards as successor to the late Alex Trebek was a questionable choice to some, especially after the studio had conducted a splashy search that included actors, sports figures and journalists.
Questions were raised about whether Richards had put his finger on the scale in favor of himself, and whether he had the gravitas that was seen in other candidates, such as fan favorite Levar Burton.
Sting accused of slander:
The heir of a late duke who sold Sting his Tuscan winery 25 years ago says the singer has hit a flat note with a lame apology for comments the family deems slanderous.
The dispute has spilled onto the pages of Italian newspapers. Sting told the weekly magazine Sette on Aug. 13 that he was persuaded into buying the Palagio winery near Florence
in 1997 after tasting an “excellent” glass of red wine offered by the owner, Simone Vincenzo Velluti Zati di San Clemente. The singer said it later turned out that the wine was a Barolo from Italy’s Piedmont region and not a local Tuscan Chianti. The magazine labeled the move “a hoax” and claimed the singer “had been tricked” into the purchase.
Simone Vincenzo Velluti Zati, the son of the duke who died in 2012, wrote a long, stinging rebuke to Sting’s accusations, calling them “slander, poisonous and completely false.”
Sting responded with a letter on Aug. 24, offering his “sincere and unequivocal apologies,” and acknowledging that the story “as reported was disrespectful to the memory of your distinguished father.”
Velluti Zati said Tuesday that the apology was a “necessary act” from the singer that was hardly
convincing. He has not decided yet whether to take any further action.
Dacosta makes box office history: With her first major feature film, “Candyman,” opening with $22.4 million at the box office, filmmaker
Nia Dacosta has become the first African American female director to debut at No. 1. The Jordan Peele-produced project performed above expectations for a horror flick and enjoyed the third-best opening numbers for a final weekend in August.
Sept. 1 birthdays: Actor George Maharis is 93. Actor Lily Tomlin is 82. Singer Archie Bell is 77. Singer Barry Gibb is 75. TV host Dr. Phil is 71. Singer Gloria Estefan is 64. Saxophonist Boney James is
60. Actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira is 50. Actor Scott Speedman is 46. Actor Boyd Holbrook is 40. Actor Zoe Lister-jones is 39.