Newly surfaced reports published by TheRinger.com reveal that Richards, a standup comedian prior to his work in TV, made inappropriate and sexist comments about women in a podcast he hosted in 2013-14 called The Randumb Show. The podcast appears to be a spinoff of a weekly late-night comedy talk show of the same name that he wrote, produced and hosted while a student at Pepperdine University. During one episode of the podcast, Richards asked a female co-host if she had “taken a nude photo.” She responded that she took “cute pictures of herself.” And then Richards said, “What does that mean? Like booby pictures?” He also commented on women and their appearance suggesting that some women “dress like a hooker” during Halloween. He also made disparaging comments about women who wear one-piece bathing suits saying they made the women appear “frumpy and overweight.” In yet another episode, he referred to his co-host as a ‘booth ho” and “booth slut” after she shared that she modeled at the Consumer Electronics Show. According to The Ringer, the 41 episodes of the podcast were made during his time as co-executive producer of The Price is Right, which he held prior to joining Jeopardy! No longer available on their original website, some of the episodes can be found here. Richards was swift and straightforward in his response to the “embarrassing, thoughtless” comments. “It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago. Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry,” wrote Richards in a statement to The Ringer on Wednesday, August 18. “The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around. Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes.” He also wrote “that his “attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable.” Richard acknowledged how inappropriate the comments were. “My responsibilities today as a father, husband and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model,” he also wrote. “And I intend to live up to them.” On Thursday, August 19 Jeopardy! will tape its new season of episodes.
Read Mike Richards full statement on The Randumb Show
“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago. Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry. The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around. Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes. My responsibilities today as a father, husband, and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.” Next, See the Full List of Jeopardy! Guest Hosts
