Dethroned Jeopardy! Champion Slams Allegedly Transphobic Fans
A former Jeopardy! champion is weighing in on another record-setting and slamming transphobic fans mad about a recent distinction
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Jeopardy! has had what would seem like a pretty rough year. Following the tragic passing of iconic host Alex Trebek, the show has been mired in controversy surrounding his replacement. Well now, they have another dust-up on their hands with one former champion is coming to the defense of a new one on social media. And this one has very little to do with the game itself but rather around the gender of one of its record setters. Should it matter at all? Of course not, but these are the times we live in.
Amy Schneider has been a superstar on Jeopardy! during her run, racking up almost $725,000 in winnings and even becoming the first transgender contestant to qualify for the vaunted Tournament of Champions. All good, right? We have a feel-good story about a person who clearly, and absolutely, rocks at this game. She’s one of the best to ever do it. That’s what we should be focused on and former champion Larissa Kelly rang in on social media to congratulate Schneider on the accomplishment. It’s a cool moment after all. Well, this is the part where some folks started to give pushback.
Larissa Kelly posted on Twitter about how Amy Schneider had now become the all-time highest woman earner on the show, eclipsing Kelly’s record she had held for years. Kelly was complimentary, acknowledging the accomplishment. The two had a little back and forth on Twitter. Check it out:
It was after this that Larissa Kelly’s replies started becoming inundated with messages challenging her assertion that Amy Schneider was the female with the most Jeopardy! winnings. Apparently, because Schneider is transgender, there was pushback from some over whether this distinction should have been made. Kelly, to her credit, went to work replying to nearly everyone who jumped in to take umbrage over the situation. Take a look:
And for the former Jeopardy! champion, this has been going on for almost a week now in her mentions. Kelly continues to reply to nearly all of them and then block them. Some she pokes fun at for not understanding the game show rules, while in others she’s outright taking issue with those who are getting big mad about the gender piece.
My strong suspicion here is that most folks who are jumping in to troll Larissa Kelly over the Amy Schneider champion thing are there for the controversy and the argument more than anything. It really doesn’t appear like they are Jeopardy! fans at all, but rather people who get charged up over the transgender debate. That could be an incorrect assessment, but this is usually the state of affairs around the topic these days.
No one from Jeopardy! has officially rung in on this and it’s unlikely they will. After all, they’ve had their fair share of publicity this year trying to find a replacement for Alex Trebek. After a star-studded “audition” process, they landed on Mike Richards who was quickly terminated when a number of allegations surfaced about his behavior on the show and off. Currently, Mayim Bialik has taken up the mantle, but it doesn’t appear she is in it for the long haul.
