“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings issued a rare on-the-spot apology for an awkward clue that put a female contestant on the spot Monday.
In the $400 category of “Complete the Rhyming Phrase,” contestant Heather Ryan chose a clue that read “Men seldom make passes at...”
She didn’t answer, but opponent Will Wallace did, correctly saying, “What are ‘Girls who wear glasses’?”
It so happened that Ryan was wearing glasses.
“A little problematic, sorry Heather,” Jennings said.
“Very,” Wallace chimed in.
While the line is credited to the long-ago feminist writer Dorothy Parker, a few viewers took the game show to task for using such an outdated phrase. Commenters on X, formerly Twitter, called it “sexist,” “stupid” and “extremely” problematic. Another wondered why the potential cringe moment wasn’t spotted beforehand by Jennings.
Still angry about this. She's used her intelligence to get on here, only to be insulted by a sexist and rude comment. Fucking assholes.
— JustSomeChick (@JustSomeChickTx) October 29, 2024It was just stupid. But he did the right thing especially since one of the panelists was a young pretty woman wearing glasses.
— therealgloria@mastodon.world (@therealgloria) October 29, 2024Just a 'little' problematic. Jeopardy do better. Is it just a coincidence that this type of question that degrades women is coming up when a woman is running for president?
— M (@spdrcr121) October 29, 2024"Yeah, a little problematic" — Ken
Um, then why didn't you bring that up to the writers before the game?#Jeopardy
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The fleeting moment may have overshadowed an exciting Final Jeopardy in which Ryan successfully doubled her sum of $9,800 to $19,600 but lost to Ian Taylor by $1.
Defending champion Wallace finished third.
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