This is the kind of thing I was talking about, there are plenty of other tweets and comments like this but these few right here sum it up:
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Imagine calling the highest earning American quiz show contestant of all time a "mediocre white male". LeVar Burton was a less than mediocre Jeopardy! guest host but this person wouldn't know that, nor would 'they' care. (I'm saying 'they' because this seems like the sort of person who would want to be called 'they'.)
Noted Jeopardy! die-hard fan (
) Roxane Gay has decided to make 'their'(?) opinion known as well. Roxane was a big fan of the hosting style of George Stephanopoulos! Actually, no:
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Again, have to make sure to get in a "bland white guy" jibe. "Doesn't audition", true, Mike Richards was only the second guest host and hosted the show for two weeks. Roxane probably forgot about that guest hosting stint/audition because 'they' were so dazzled by the hosting skills of the hosts in all the other weeks which Roxane definitely watched. The concern with an 'audition' is humorous because LeVar's fans proclaimed him to be Alex Trebek's rightful successor many months ago, no audition required. As for "bland white guy", from what I've seen of him, LeVar Burton (the real guy, not the actor) is about as bland as it's possible for a person to be.
But anyway I'm glad to see Roxane's tweets are as well researched and concerned with accuracy as the books 'they' have published.
And finally: Hollywood itself is on board!
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I knew absolutely nothing about LeVar Burton prior to Jeopardy! but his fanbase have made me detest the guy. I simply don't want these people to have things their way. Even if he was a fantastic guest host I would feel that way but the fact that he was horribly underprepared, shouty, inconsistent in his clue reading and awkward talking to the contestants makes it a lot easier for me to say that. I wouldn't put it past Mike Richards to recommend to Sony that they hire LeVar, so that Mike can try to claw back some goodwill on his way out the door and extend his career since there's currently a stain on his name. I'm sure he wants to continue working in top positions in the entertainment industry, and with Hollywood types coming out in support of LeVar, it seems exactly like the sort of thing Mike would do. They all make me sick!