Mayim Bialik Responds to 'SNL' Shading 'Jeopardy!' Over Hosting Scandal
Mayim Bialik has no hard feelings after Saturday Night Live came for her and the now-infamous Jeopardy! hosting scandal.
The 45-year-old Jeopardy! host took to social media on Sunday to comment on the NBC sketch show's cold opening from this past weekend. In it, SNL took aim at the NFL and the recent firing of Raiders coach Jon Gruden after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on racist, homophobic and misogynistic language he used in past emails and statements.
At one point in the sketch, comedian Alex Moffat portrays Raiders owner Mark Davis and jokes that after firing Jon, he thinks naming LeVar Burton (played by Kenan Thompson) as the new head coach would make everyone happy. At that point, Kenan, dressed as LeVar, walked onto the set and yelled, "Suck on that, Mayim!"
One of the highest honors - being mentioned on @nbcsnl !!!! Love this !!!! #SNL pic.twitter.com/NtMc7yleXI
— Mayim Bialik (@missmayim) October 17, 2021
Despite the apparent shade being thrown at Jeopardy!, Mayim seemed to be all about the sketch. On Sunday night, she tweeted a clip of the SNL moment and wrote, "One of the highest honors - being mentioned on @nbcsnl !!!! Love this !!!! #SNL."
In case you haven't been keeping up with all of the Jeopardy! drama and/or don't understand SNL's dig at Mayim, allow us to explain. Basically, Jeopardy! has come under fire the past few months while trying to find a new permanent host to replace the late and great Alex Trebek. After auditioning several celebrity guest hosts, including Mayim, the show surprisingly named former executive producer Mike Richards as Alex's weekly replacement. This was disappointing to many Jeopardy! fans, who were hoping LeVar (a fan-favorite guest host) would take Alex's place instead, and sparked suspicion that the audition process was unfair from the start.
Alas, Mike's job offer didn't last long. Once Mike's past offensive comments and lawsuits came to surface following the announcement, he stepped down and later exited Jeopardy! all together. Meanwhile, Mayim agreed to trade off with Jeopardy! prodigy Ken Jennings at the lectern for the rest of the year until the show could try to find another permanent host.
In response to the Jeopardy! hosting drama, Mayim told NBC News that her main priority while hosting the show this fall is to get the audience to care less about who is at the lectern and more on the game itself and its stellar contestants.
"We're kind of in that sort of mode: trying to get some stability and consistency back for our wonderful staff and crew, many of whom have been there for decades without any sort of drama or turmoil," she explained. "That's what I think Ken and I are both focusing on right now."
But when the Jeopardy! host scandal does get brought up, like it did this past weekend on SNL, it's good to see that Mayim isn't letting it bother her.
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