Amidst all of the personal messages that have been unveiled to public thanks to the Sony e-mail-hack debacle, a series of e-mails had surfaced yesterday showing an irate Alex Trebek expressing his discontent with the producers and Sony executives after he was asked to re-tape a segment of Jeopardy! during Kids Week due to an incident with a contestant named Gabby Fusco. After the Fusco had ended Double Jeopardy! with -$1,400 and was unable to play in the Final Jeopardy! round on Wednesday’s show, a producer wrote via e-mail that “she was visibly upset” and ran backstage crying with her mother.
Afterwards, the mother responded to her daughter’s meltdown with a letter to the producers stating that she “was quite a bit taken back” with Trebek’s reaction and how Trebek didn’t ever console the girl backstage. Fusco's mother continued to write that “She was upset about not being able to completely play the game to the end. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that.”
The producer wrote that even though “Alex’s intentions were good”, they asked him to re-tape the segment “to appease an upset mother who could start another feeding frenzy about Alex’s perceived insensitivity.” The request rubbed the veteran host the wrong way by him stating the following in an e-mail to the producers: “If you all think I should retape the opening, I will. But I want to say that for 30 years I’ve defended our show against attacks inside and out. But it doesn’t seem to operate both ways. When I’m vilified, corporate (and certainly legal) always seems to say ‘don’t say anything and it’ll blow over,’ and I’m not feeling support from the producers, and that disappoints the s**t out of me.” Trebek’s message continues with “If I’m making mistakes and saying things you don’t like, maybe it’s time for me to move on. It’s not a threat, but I want to let you know how I’m feeling.” It was later reported in an e-mail by Harry Friedman, executive producer of Jeopardy!, that Trebek eventually calmed down.
It seems like Jeopardy! and Alex Trebek just can’t get a break nowadays with the "controversial" 'What Women Want' scandal in October and even with last year’s 'Emancipation Proclamation' misspell mishap a season ago during Kids Week. In Trebek’s defense, he just simply does not have enough time to heavily console every losing contestant, especially the ones who leave the game with a negative total. I’m sure he did the best he could in reacting in a sympathetic manner towards Fusco’s loss during the commercial break with chewing up too much time. Despite this controversy (and I’m using the term very loosely), this more than likely will not spell the end of Kids Week on future seasons of Jeopardy!.
Sources: LA Times, MSNBC, Radar Online
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