The story may have ended there if it weren’t for that god damned internet. In a since-deleted Facebook post, Raut wrote extensively about his time on the show, viewers’ unkind response to him, and Jeopardy!‘s unearned status as premier event in American quizzing. Raut said, in part, of Jeopardy!:
“Jeopardy! is not the problem; its centrality to American society is. There will never be a healthy quizzing culture in this country until we learn to stop pretending that ‘Jeopardy!’ is important. The fact that actual quizzing continues to be a fringe subculture in the shadows is what allowed racists, misogynists, and outright sexual harassers to thrive in collegiate quizbowl for so long.”
To be clear, Raut’s missives about Jeopardy! did not come in a vacuum. He had been on the receiving end of rude fan commentary since the moment his first episode premiered, with viewers criticizing his perceived lack of humility. Still, criticizing an institution that had just awarded him $96,403 rubbed many the wrong way.
Rightly or wrongly, the post made Raut the rarest of Jeopardy! contestant archetypes: a villain. Jeopardy! hasn’t had many of those throughout the years, but fellow “Jeopardy! villain” James Holzhauer knows them when he sees them. The super champion welcomed Raut to the unofficial Fraternity of Jeopardy! Rogues by tweeting: “Anyone who’s ever used social media to criticize Jeopardy or its producers should get a lifetime ban from the show.”
For those unfamiliar with Holzhauer’s sense of humor (which appears to be about 90% of media that covered the tweet in question) he is being sarcastic there. Holzhauer himself delights in using social media to criticize Jeopardy! and its producers, and yet still gets invited back. And so too will Yogesh Raut be invited back.
Despite not winning the required five games to be considered eligible, Raut was invited to return for the Tournament of Champions anyway, which begins Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. His episode will air on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 in which he will face off against Nick Cascone and Jake DeArruda.
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