We can now add another victim to the Sony hack scandal: Alex Trebek. Emails reveal that everyone's favorite game show host was so mad at a child contestant's mother that he almost quit Jeopardy!
According to a series of emails, the drama began during the taping of an episode of Jeopardy! Kids that aired Dec. 3 when one contestant reached negative $1,400 during the game, making her ineligible to compete in the Final Jeopardy.
"We have bad news for you, because you're in the negative situation, it means you won't be around for Final Jeopardy, but you'll automatically pick up $1000 for a third place finish," Trebek said in the episode, although it is not clear if this was included in a re-shoot.
But things blew up behind the scenes. Of course the girl was upset, so her mom came to her defense, going off on the show's producers. In a message, the mother blames Trebek for treating the girl harshly, writing she "was quite a bit taken back" with the way Trebek treated her child.
"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," the woman wrote. "She was upset about not being able to completely play the game to the end."
And Trebek allegedly did not try to console the girl, leaving her mother and the show's producers to dry the tears. "I don't think I'll ever forgive him for that," her mother wrote.
In a response to the mother, a producer does acknowledge the fact that the girl "was visibly upset" before they were able to calm her down. Then "to appease an upset mother who could start another feeding frenzy about Alex's perceived insensitivity" the producers asked Trebek to redo the segment.
However, the incident sparked a mini-meltdown from Trebek. Although he did agree to do the retape, the hacked emails reveal he was on the verge of quitting the popular game show.
"If you all think I should retape the opening, I will," Trebek 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."
And that wasn't the last of it. "If I'm making mistakes and saying things you don't like, maybe it's time for me to move on," he also wrote. "It's not a threat, but I want to let you know how I'm feeling."
Trebek later calmed down and moved forward, making it safe to say he isn't leaving Jeopardy! at the moment.
Four former employees filed lawsuits against Sony Picture Entertainment for not doing enough to prevent the hack. Hackers have reportedly stole close to 500,000 social security numbers, salary information and other personal information from both past and present employees.
The Sony hacks have revealed other Hollywood drama. According to the ten of thousands of emails. For instance, the female actors in American Hustle received two percent less of the profits from the film than the male actors did, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is apparently broke, and George Clooney apologized to Sony for not delivering on his promise that Monuments Men would be a hit.
But our favorite leak is that Kayne West's people were talking with Sony executives about making a biopic about the rap god. The best part? Kayne would of course play himself.
[PHOTO CREDIT: marabuchi/Flickr]
