Jeopardy! producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss has addressed that hot-button “Girls Who Wear Glasses” clue from last week, which involved a swift apology from Ken Jennings to a female contestant, backlash from fans, and a particularly prolonged pile-on from the press.
For those who missed it, on Monday, October 28’s episode, the players were presented the $400 Jeopardy! round clue in the “Complete the Rhyming Phrase” category. It was, “Men seldom make passes at…” Returning champion Will Wallace correctly completed the phrase, “Girls who wear glasses.” Heather Ryan, the only woman in the episode, was wearing glasses. Host Jennings acknowledged the issue: “A little problematic, sorry, Heather,” he said, as she appeared visibly uncomfortable. Wallace agreed with a nod and said, “Very.”
The quote comes from the poem News Item by witty feminist Dorothy Parker, but fans who read it at face value deemed the clue “sexist,” many others calling it “outdated.” Viewers who knew the origins also took issue because it was far beyond the period of time when the quote was relevant.
Additional fans wondered why show bosses allowed the clue to be aired, forcing Jennings to awkwardly say something after he read it out. As one X user wrote, “‘Yeah, a little problematic’ — Ken Um, then why didn’t you bring that up to the writers before the game?”
On the Monday (November 5) episode of the official Inside Jeopardy! podcast, Foss, joined by guest host and former champion Buzzy Cohen, discussed the clue and why they chose to air it.
“One thing I do wanna point out about this game, was in the category ‘Complete the Rhyming Phrase,’ there was the rhyming phrase, ‘Men seldom make passes at’ and the [correct] response was ‘Girls who wear glasses.’” she began.
Foss reiterated its origins as a famous quote from poet Dorothy Parker and stated that the Jeopardy! writers don’t think that way.
“I think many people thought the Jeopardy! writers wrote this, or thought this,” she continued. “But in fact, Dorothy Parker wrote this, about 100 years ago, in a 1926 book. We were simply, just, filling in the category.” Foss went on to read some of the headlines from the major national outlets that picked it up, expressing surprise at how far-reaching the incident became.
Cohen chimed in to share that he was stopped in a coffee shop over it despite having zero involvement.
“Can I tell you, someone ran up to me in a coffee shop and was like, ‘what was this going on with the glasses, making fun of the glasses?’” he recalled. “I was like ‘What are you talking about?’ Wild.” He urged viewers: “Gotta read more.”
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Foss replied, “And Ken in the moment was like, ‘Oh gosh, woah that’s harsh’ to Heather, because he was just being a host in the moment,” referring to the outsized blame on the host, exacerbated by his note that it was “problematic.”
“But I really think that people out there are convinced that Jeopardy! writers pinned this because they think ‘men seldom make passes…’ I don’t know! Sometimes the clickbait, it’s too much,” she concluded.
Wallace lost his four day, $79,998 winning streak to the third contestant after the incident.
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