‘Jeopardy!’: Find Out What James Holzhauer Had to Say About Yogesh Raut’s Comments About Show
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Jeopardy! icon James Holzhauer has weighed in on the controversy surrounding recent champ Yogesh Raut and his week-long rant against the show.
Raut, a freelance writer and podcaster from Springfield, Illinois, who won three games earlier this month, has caused quite a stir with his numerous Facebook rants aimed at the long-running game show. In these rants, Raut has fired back at claims of his “bad sportsmanship,” as well as called into question Jeopardy!‘s importance to American culture.
On Tuesday, January 24, Holzhauer took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the situation. After retweeting an article about Raut’s rants, the former Tournament of Champions winner tweeted, “Anyone who’s ever used social media to criticize Jeopardy or its producers should get a lifetime ban from the show.”
Anyone who’s ever used social media to criticize Jeopardy or its producers should get a lifetime ban from the show
— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) January 24, 2023
Fans appeared to be split on whether Holzhauer was being serious or just making a sarcastic joke. After all, Holzhauer himself has not been shy about criticizing the show and its producers in the past.
“I think a lot of people are missing James’s joke here…” one fan commented under the tweet, while another added, “I didn’t get the context until reading some of the comments. No idea that Holzhauer had his own social media diatribe v Jeopardy.”
In 2021, Holzhauer blasted ousted host/producer Mike Richards in a series of tweets. “Do I think Mike Richards’s podcast comments were appropriate for polite society? No,” he tweeted, referring to Richards’ insensitive remarks on a 2013 podcast. “But did he deserve the benefit of the doubt for the job he did running Jeopardy? Also no.”
He went on to add, “Some judged Mike Richards solely on his podcast comments and formed a negative opinion, but I judged him by the way he treated people backstage at Jeopardy and formed a much stronger negative opinion.”
As for Raut, it appears that his ranting is over for now. He concluded his latest Facebook post with the following, “Anyway, time to wrap things up. My 15 minutes are just about over. So I’ll just say that I haven’t always been the best at listening to those less privileged than me, or at calling out those who judge and punish others without listening to them. Join me in trying to be better.”
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