‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Apologizes to Contestant for Sexist Clue: ‘A Little Problematic’
Viewers took issue with the “Complete the Rhyming Phrase” category clue, pulled from a Dorothy Parker quote
Last night’s episode of Jeopardy! used a dated, sexist clue, leading host Ken Jennings to apologize to a female contestant.
During the category “Complete the Rhyming Phrase,” the three contestants were given the phrase, “Men seldom make passes at…” The answer was: “…girls who wear glasses.” Returning champion Will Wallace answered, but another contestant, Heather Ryan, was wearing glasses herself.
After acknowledging that Wallace had the correct answer, Jennings admitted that the phrase, coined by Dorothy Parker, didn’t hold up. “A little problematic, sorry Heather,” Jennings said. Wallace then came to his fellow player’s defense and added, “Very.”
Although it was a brief moment on the game show, fans online responded with understandable ire. “Frankly, I don’t need to hear Ken read an obviously outdated and inappropriate clue and then call it ‘problematic,’” a viewer wrote in the Reddit thread for the episode. “Maybe he can use his position to get it switched out before it goes out over the air.”
“Still angry about this,” another fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “She’s used her intelligence to get on here, only to be insulted by a sexist and rude comment.”
Jennings took over as host of Jeopardy! following the death of long-time host Alex Trebek in 2020. He initially took turns hosting with Mayim Bialik, but took over solo for the 40th season when it kicked off last fall. Jennings and Bialik had a successful run as Jeopardy!’s alternating hosts, stabilizing the long-running game show after a surprisingly tumultuous effort to replace Alex Trebek.
