Jeopardy!’s Record-Breaking Champion Reveals She Was Robbed
Amy Scheider, the current champion of the long-running quiz show Jeopardy!, has publicly stated that she was recently robbed.
Amy Scheider, the current champion of the long-running quiz show Jeopardy!, has publicly stated that she was recently robbed. Schneider revealed via her Twitter account that she had been robbed, but was physically okay. Her credit cards, identification and phone were reportedly taken. Although more info on the incident is still scarce, the Oakland (where Schneider resides) Police Department has confirmed they are investigating an armed robbery. While a spokesperson did not state that it was Schneider’s case, the general timeframe and details seem to match up (per NBC News).
Here’s her original Tweet:
Amy Schneider seems to be handling the robbery well, though she did comment on her sleeplessness after the incident. As anyone who has been involved in a robbery might know, this is not unusual. Hopefully Schneider recovers quickly from this, and gets back to her record-breaking streak on Jeopardy! She recently became the record holder for most consecutive wins by a woman, beating previous champ Julia Collins’ 2014 record with a 21st win last Wednesday. She swiftly followed that up by repeatedly breaking her own record, and now stands at 24 consecutive wins.
Of course, the world of Jeopardy! rarely remains a quiet one. For a quiz show that has always been typified by its even, dignified approach to giving people money for knowing about United States Presidents, it has been a weird and tumultuous time. The sad passing of longtime host and mustache icon Alex Trebek in 2020 kicked off a series of interim hosts, who were generally considered to be in the running for a permanent position.
After a lineup that included newswoman Katie Couric, controversial media figure and Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet “Dr. Oz” Cengiz Öz, and beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation actor and Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton, the role was unexpectedly filled by the virtually unknown Mike Richards. After awareness of his behind-the-scenes role as a producer of Jeopardy! and his alleged history of racially offensive remarks and sexual discrimination, Richards stepped down. Jeopardy! icon Ken Jennings and actress Mayim Bialik are currently hosting the show until at least July of 2022.
While Schneider’s tenure as Jeopardy! champion has been both historic and welcome, she has also faced drama. Schneider, who is trans, quickly became the target of online trolls who made it their business to publicly debate her gender identity and status as champion. Former champion Larissa Kelly swiftly came to support her online, but it is a terrible sign of the state of public discourse that these people would be attacking Schneider.
Jeopardy! has been relatively stable on the news front since the announcement that Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik were taking the reins. In fact, in happier news, just recently they were trying to get comedy icon Steve Martin to appear on the show after a recent winner was a dead ringer for him. We can only hope the best right now for Amy Schneider, and that this will soon only be a sad footnote in her illustrious career as a Jeopardy! champion.
