'A little problematic': Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings ripped over 'sexist' clue

29 October 2024

A clue read aloud on air during a recent episode of Jeopardy! has host Ken Jennings in hot water with his audience.

The Daily Mail reported that one clue read during the "complete the rhyming phrase" category was met with backlash both from contestants and viewers on social media. The clue read: "Men seldom make passes at..." which prompted contestant Will Wallace — and former reigning champion — to correctly respond with, "girls who wear glasses."

Jennings acknowledged that the clue was "a little problematic," with Wallace adding that it was "very [problematic]." He then apologized to contestant Heather Ryan — who happened to be wearing glasses at the time.

The Mail reported that Reddit users expressed their disdain with Jennings for not intervening to strike the clue and have it replaced with something less offensive. One user wrote that the episode's "rhyming phrases category was awful, especially the sexist clue."

"Frankly, I don't need to hear Ken read an obviously outdated and inappropriate clue and then call it 'problematic,'" another user wrote.

The origin of the rhyming phrase "men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses" traces back to New York-based socialite and media commentator Dorothy Parker, who was prominent in the 1920s and 1930s. Parker was known for her one-liners and had a reputation as a "wisecracker," and was also a frequent contributor to Vanity Fair and the New Yorker.

However, her observation was ultimately debunked. In 1943, TIME magazine reported that Purdue University psychologist George R. Thornton conducted an experiment in which he had 200 participants weigh in on photographs of the same 20 male and female subjects both wearing glasses and not wearing glasses. The experiment found that the photo subjects "made a better impression wearing glasses than bareface."

Despite Wallace's correct response to the clue, it didn't save him. He ended up with just $2 by the end of Monday night's episode, while Ryan had racked up $19,600. However, the winner was contestant Ian Taylor, who edged out Ryan in Final Jeopardy and came away with just $1 more than her total.

Ken Jennings has been the sole host of Jeopardy! since former co-host and longtime Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik was fired last year. Bialik was nominated for a primetime Emmy award for her co-hosting, which was initially just for a select few episodes. Jennings was made the permanent host out of concerns for "consistency."

Click here to read the Daily Mail's article in full.

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