Alex Trebek refused to give in to the demands of a whiny stage mom — warning Sony he would end his 30-year run as “Jeopardy” host if they had a problem with it, hacked emails revealed Tuesday.
The “Jeopardy! Kids” contestant’s helicopter mother had blown a gasket because the beloved game show icon didn’t move a muscle as her “visibly upset” daughter stormed offstage when she was eliminated prior to the Final Jeopardy round, according to messages leaked by the Guardians of Peace hacker group.
An exchange between Trebek and Sony producers in which the longtime host passionately defends his actions was uncovered by RadarOnline.com.
“If I’m making mistakes and saying things you don’t like, maybe it’s time for me to move on,” Trebek wrote to producers. “It’s not a threat, but I want to let you know how I’m feeling.”
The game show icon warned Sony he would call it quits because producers had asked him to re-tape the emotional segment.
Toward the end of the show, the young girl had been in the red — making her ineligible to play the Final Jeopardy round, RadarOnline.com reports.
This was ultimately the reason why she fled the stage in tears, according to the emails.
Eventually the youngster calmed down and returned to the set to watch another episode as an audience member. But her nagging mom wasn’t going to let Trebek slide — she complained in a scathing letter to producers in which she called out the longtime host.
“If he had taken the time, he would have known, like you do, that my daughter is not a sore loser, and does not become emotional solely over losing a game,” she wrote, adding that she “was quite a bit taken [aback]” by his reaction.
“She was upset about not being able to completely play the game to the end,” she continued. “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that.”
Producers responded by saying “Alex’s intentions were good” and that they would ask him to re-tape the segment “to appease an upset mother who could start another feeding frenzy about Alex’s perceived insensitivity,” according to the emails.
But Trebek wouldn’t go down so easily, firing back at Sony with some complaints of his own.
“If you all think I should retape the opening, I will,” he wrote. “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 was eventually calmed down by “Jeopardy!” executive producer Harry Friedman, the emails added.