The Explosive Reason Alex Trebek Recently Threatened To Quit Jeopardy!

Though game shows have had their time in the negative limelight on occasion, Jeopardy! is one of those shows where the biggest controversy normally involves a mustache. But the most recent Sony info-dump revealed that host Alex Trebek recently got so angry with producers that he threatened to quit the show. Well, it wasn’t really a threat. But then neither is a horse head in your bed.

Funnily enough, the inciting incident took place during a taping of Kids Jeopardy. (And not even a special Ruffians Only edition.) One of the young contestants ended the game with a negative amount of money, making her ineligible for Final Jeopardy. That’s the way Jeopardy! works. But the girl got extremely upset with this fate, and she sobbingly took off backstage with her mother. Eventually, everyone calmed down enough to watch the next episode’s taping. All good, right?

According to RadarOnline, the mother then sent an email, calling Trebek out for not going backstage to show the girl some compassion. She says her daughter “is not a sore loser” but that she was upset because she couldn’t play to the end. (“Sore eliminated contestant” just doesn’t have that ring to it.) Apparently feeling pressured by this woman’s claim that she’ll never forgive Trebek, the show’s producers asked him to retape the segment, in an effort to avoid any future negative publicity concerning his “perceived insensitivity.”

Trebek's gloriously straightforward alleged response essentially says that he's defended the series against attacks for 30 years, but he doesn't feel he's receiving the same support in return. He goes on to suggest that if he's not doing things right, maybe it's time he moves on. And that, in his words, is not a threat, but just how he's feeling.

The next time I go fishing, I’m going to tell the fish that the hook isn’t a threat, it’s just how I’m feeling. I can’t say that anything drastic will become of this – Matt Lauer’s name did come up as a host replacement last year – as the story said Trebek later dropped the hostility. But it was well-earned hostility in my book. If they wanted him to make a personal apology, that would be bad enough, but retaping a segment just because a contestant thinks the long-established rules are unfair is just idiotic.

Who do you guys think was right in this case?

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.