When news broke that Mike Richards, the executive producer of Jeopardy! who was chosen to succeed Alex Trebek, would be stepping down as host on the syndicated game show, fans of the show took to social media to comment about the news.
But one tweet stood out among many. LeVar Burton.
Burton, who had guest-hosted in July thanks to the advocacy from Jeopardy! die hards, tweeted “Happy Friday y’all!” which had Black Twitter poking fun at Mike Richards’ exit.
Many couldn’t figure out if the timely tweet was an underlying message or if he was really wishing everyone a Happy Friday.
Richards stepped down from his role immediately following some backlash regarding past comments on women, Jewish people and more.
He said in a statement “I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show and was thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role. However, over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show.”
Burton seemed to truly want the job, as he publically stated that he was “preparing his whole life” for a chance to host. While he did guest host during Jeopardy!‘s very public search, the job ultimately went to Richards.
“Jeopardy!” producers say that the “search for a permanent syndicated host” would resume again.
No word yet on whether Burton will take part.
-theGrio