Sony reportedly expected to name Ken Jennings Jeopardy! host before his controversy over offensive old tweets

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony TV executives last year saw Jennings as the "ideal successor" to Alex Trebek. "While Mr. Jennings didn’t have much experience hosting, the executives at Sony and producers at Jeopardy! were confident that he would grow into the role," report The Journal's Joe Flint and Khadeeja Safdar. "He was a fan favorite and already a familiar face to the Jeopardy! machine from working as a consultant on the show since 2020. Then came the old tweets." The old tweets -- including "Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair" mocking the disabled -- gave Sony executives "pause," even though Jennings apologized. The Journal also reports focus groups "didn't react well to Mr. Jennings afterward."

ALSO:

• Is Mayim Bialik's dubious scientific beliefs going to become Jeopardy!'s next big headache?: "Now that Bialik is officially embedded in a legendary television institution, Jeopardy! fans and social media users are digging into her past: Her 2017 New York Times op-ed about disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein that was criticized for victim-blaming, or her book that promoted the hotly debated attachment parenting philosophy (Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way)," says Amy Argetsinger. "When (Mike) Richards was originally involved in the host search process, he said that social media response would play a role, but not a particularly big one — after all, plenty of the Jeopardy! core audience does not spend a lot of time on Twitter. But that appears to be changing, as the online backlash with Richards was too overwhelming for Sony executives to ignore...Two of Bialik’s stances drawing the most ire are her quotes on vaccines and her role as a 'science ambassador' for Neuriva, an over-the-counter supplement marketed as a way to improve brain health, which has been slammed as pseudoscience."
• Jeopardy! alums feel betrayed by Mike Richards and Sony