Short-Lived ‘Jeopardy!’ Host Mike Richards Has Lawyered Up For The Inevitable Legal Battle

Despite initially planning to allow Mike Richards to stay on as an executive producer after he mired the Jeopardy! host selection process in weeks of controversy by kind of choosing — or at least not not choosing — himself as Alex Trebek’s successor, Sony Pictures Television fired the embattled TV exec earlier this week. Not only was Richards ousted as an EP for Jeopardy! but also Wheel of Fortune, and now, it appears he’s gearing up for a courtroom battle that will undoubtedly last longer than his hosting gig. Via Fox News:

Mike Richards hired an attorney in what appears to be an upcoming legal battle against Sony following his ousting as executive producer of “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” Fox News can confirm.

Los Angeles-based attorney Bryan J. Freedman of Freedman + Taitelman, LLP confirmed to Fox News on Friday he’s now representing Richards.

As for what kind of fight Richards is preparing for, well, that remains to be seen, but his public reputation couldn’t be in worse shape thanks to the Jeopardy! debacle. By inserting himself into the hosting mix, Richards went from a little-known producer to a headline-making villain who allegedly was terrible to work for during his time on The Price Is Right. His extremely questionable remarks on women’s bodies and bigoted statements about Jews were also unearthed by The Ringer, which ultimately led to Richards losing the Jeopardy! hosting job after taping just one episode.

In short, Mike Richards flew too close to the sun, and now, he’s got nothing left to do but probably get paid a ton of money to go away. Tough… break