Current:Home > ContactJeopardy! Contestant Speaks Out on Sexist Clue After Ken Jennings' Apology-VaTradeCoin
Jeopardy! Contestant Speaks Out on Sexist Clue After Ken Jennings' Apology
lotradecoin strategy View Date:2024-12-25 22:35:28
This Jeopardy! contestant will take Reactions for $200.
Heather Ryan is speaking out after going viral in late October thanks to a sexist clue on the hit game show.
In the category of “Rhyming Phrases,” the clue was: “Men seldom make passes at…” with the answer being “at girls who wear glasses.” Noticeably, Heather was the only female on stage and wearing glasses.
"It is definitely an odd choice,” Heather told Binghamton University’s student newspaper Pipe Dream on Nov. 6, per People. “I think it made everybody in the audience and on stage, and Ken Jennings too, a little uncomfortable. It was like, ‘Oh, that was unexpected.’”
In fact, host Ken apologized to Heather in the moment, calling the clue, “a little problematic,” and adding, “Sorry Heather.” Fellow contestant Will Wallace, who provided the correct answer, agreed with Ken at the time, saying, “Very.”
The comment was believed to have come from late poet Dorothy Parker.
As for Heather’s ideas for the game show moving forward: “Maybe we choose better rhyming phrases in 2024.”
Heather added that she was concerned for young girls who might have witnessed the exchange.
“Unfortunately, there are still girls who are [in] middle school, and they don’t want to wear their glasses and they’re losing out on their education,” she said. “So, I think it’s much better to be able to see than anything else.”
However, despite the viral moment, Heather enjoyed the experience, despite losing by only $1 in Final Jeopardy.
“I had a great time,” she said. “Everybody there was very welcoming. It’s such a part of American culture that I definitely wanted to go on when I got the call for it.”
She was also excited to be a part of the show’s prestigious history.
“It’s just a very special thing to play a small role in this big part,” she added. “It’s been running for 40 years, and so I got to play my part in it.”
Watch E! News weeknights Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., only on E!.veryGood! (45)
Related
- Mega Millions winning numbers for Tuesday, Dec. 10 drawing: $619 million lottery jackpot
- How to clean suede shoes at home without ruining them
- Newly elected progressive Thai lawmaker sentenced to 6 years for defaming monarchy
- Why are there NFL games on Saturday? How to watch Saturday's slate of games.
- Mega Millions winning numbers for Tuesday, Dec. 10 drawing: $619 million lottery jackpot
- Ambush kills 7 Israeli soldiers in Gaza City, where battles rage weeks into devastating offensive
- Amid outcry over Gaza tactics, videos of soldiers acting maliciously create new headache for Israel
- 'Vanderpump Rules' Season 11: Premiere date, trailer, cast, how to watch new season
- What was 2024's best movie? From 'The Substance' to 'Conclave,' our top 10
- Ethiopia arrests former peace minister over alleged links to an outlawed rebel group
Ranking
- The burial site of the people Andrew Jackson enslaved was lost. The Hermitage says it is found
- Todd Chrisley Details His Life in Filthy Prison With Dated Food
- Fantasy football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: 15 players to start or sit in Week 15
- Fed expected to stand pat on interest rates but forecast just two cuts in 2024: Economists
- Beyoncé's BeyGood charity donates $100K to Houston law center amid Jay
- ExxonMobil says it will stay in Guyana for the long term despite territorial dispute with Venezuela
- Two indicted in Maine cold case killing solved after 15 years, police say
- Guy Fieri talks Super Bowl party, his son's 'quick engagement' and Bobby Flay's texts
Recommendation
-
Beyoncé takes home first award in country music category at 2024 Billboard Music Awards
-
5 million veterans screened for toxic exposures since PACT Act
-
Quarter of world's freshwater fish species at risk of extinction, researchers warn
-
Anna Chickadee Cardwell, reality TV star from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, dies at 29
-
Billboard Music Awards 2024: Complete winners list, including Taylor Swift's historic night
-
UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to demand a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza
-
Georgia and Alabama propose a deal to settle their water war over the Chattahoochee River
-
Todd Chrisley Details His Life in Filthy Prison With Dated Food