MovieChat Forums > Mike Richards Discussion > He got fired for being what I’d call “th...

He got fired for being what I’d call “the office slime ball”


Comments about women’s bodies, body shaming, wanting to look at intimate photos of girls they’ve taken on their own phone.

I’m sure it’s the tip of the iceberg.

His apology was distancing, and it shouldn’t have been.

“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago.”

Does it matter if it was nearly a decade ago? He was late 30s then, not 16.

reply

It matters if it was ongoing or not. At least to me. If someone made a mistake 10 years ago, and they haven't done it since, I'm not sure they should still be losing jobs over it. Since you didn't link to a story, I don't know how many women complained, when they complained, what the company's reaction was when the complaints were first made, or what his behaviour has been in the last 10 years. In my opinion, all those things matter.

reply

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/jeopardys-new-host-mike-richards-resigns-after-fans-slam-him-for-past-misogynistic-comments/news-story/cc438e26f666db2b45bd0de39840b1e9

reply

Yeah, I don't really think that that is worthy of having to step down, but what do I know.

reply

Sexual harassment in the workplace is often put up with for career progression. His bosses must have known that more women could come forward. Better to deal with this now, not later.

Yeah it sucks for him, but you gotta be squeaky clean these days.

reply

I'm confused though. Beth was his co-host on the podcast? Did she complain or was it just people complaining on her behalf? That makes such a difference to me. My friends and I say stuff to each other that wouldn't always be appropriate in a workplace, but it doesn't bother us in the slightest. If it was Beth that was complaining then I would agree that it needs to be dealt with. If she didn't complain, and had a friendship with him that allowed for insults and if she thought they were funny, then....I don't know. I know the podcast was about The Price is Right, but if no one complained at the time, then why should people get to complain now and have something done about it? I don't know. If others do come forward then I will totally switch my position on this, but just from what I've read I don't think it was a serious offence.

If this is something that isn't serious and Beth doesn't feel like a victim then I get really annoyed at the twitter mob. Getting offended on behalf of someone who isn't offended and then destroying a career over it, makes it that much more difficult for actual victims of harassment and assault to be taken seriously.

reply

And BourbonKing below just proved my point.

reply

I haven't been following this kerfuffle, but I have to ask...

Has this Beth person come forward to defend him? Because if she truly didn't mind, if she really didn't feel like a victim and held no grudge, you'd think she would.

reply

He stepped down as host and is a coward for doing so. The racism of Twitter is why this happened.

reply

He probably did t have a choice in the matter. You can’t replace a beloved host with one who has been litigated by former employees.

reply

litigated?

reply

Meh...he was a dipshit from the start and the show itself exposed its facade of "America's Game Show" being nothing more than a front for a conglomerate of slimeball culture that will exist after Mikey takes the hit for the team. #MeToo may feel emboldened but they haven't changed a fucking thing and are in fact supporters of the culture they decry. They just want to get paid for it.

reply

He got caught saying what most people say in offices in private conversations. How awful!

reply

He said it in a podcast, which was meant to be a behind the scenes glimpse of The Price Is Right. He should have known not to reveal his misogynistic “sense of humour”, if we can call body shaming that.

reply

So what? It's not like most people don't say the same things. Women do it, too. America needs to grow up and be more tolerant.

reply

Wasn't he doing an act at a comedy club and started getting into it with some African Americans in the audience, then dropping N bombs and other racist shit?

reply

He did? Well that changes everything! We need to execute him immediately!

reply

In his podcast, he was doing schtick with his partner (Beth), just like Howard Stern (used to do) with Robin. And within the zeitgeist of the 80’s, 90’s, even early 00’s....daring, irreverent...even bad-boy humor was accepted and people laughed. You need to look at this within the context of the times, and of the podcast.

What happened here is simply...people don’t want a white male to get the gig, so they went digging...combing through everything he’s ever done...until they could find ammo to bring him down—stuff that was accepted and condoned at the time, but now can be weaponized to ruin a career.

If we’re becoming the Retroactive Behavior Accountability Police.....so puritanical and delicate that virtually EVERYTHING crosses SOMEONE’S line.....comedians...rappers...radio and talk show hosts, etc....will all be rounded-up and taken down....made to pay for the behavior they were once encouraged and celebrated for. And they will be replaced by the “Appalled Powderpuff Mafia” that wants their jobs, a big payout, or both.

More people need the guts to call this out. People with a bigger audience than Bill Maher. (Even HE treads lightly). People like Dave Chappell.....Kate McKinnon....Robin Quivers....Nikki Glaser....Gayle King....Oprah.....The View....Trevor Noah....John Stewart......Anderson Cooper....Kelly Clarkson.....

reply

This guy went to the trouble of making derogatory variants of the word booth to describe a female coworker. Booth-slut. Booth hoe. Boothistute.

Even if it was "hilarious" to him and others, even her, it's not professional. At best it's highly immature, "locker room" talk at worst it's an insight into his sense of power and how he views and treats women.

reply

It’s the same type of humor as calling a man a “man-whore”....or, wait for it............................................an “F-Boy”.

I can guarantee you, women are just as capable of using crude language and crude humor...especially within the context of doing schtick with friends.

reply

Don’t care, it’s not acceptable and I hope others hear this and go “okay, I better watch my behaviour.”

reply

If you take irreverent, naughty humor off the table forever, in any context, you're left with edited, homogenized, safe, puritanical, censored behavior....censored down to the lowest common sensibility. Is that the kind of world you'd like to exist in? If so, who are your favorite comedians and celebrities....because I'm pretty certain most of them will no longer be around.

reply

You say that like it's a bad thing. Humor doesn't have to be crude or have shock value. Jokes about black people's intelligence, are they still funny? Shouldn't be.

reply

There needs to be room in art for irreverence. An example of this would be something like....a roast.....where you understand, within the context of the forum, the humor will be raunchy, off-color, daring, blue, tongue-in-cheek, dark, light, silly, rude. dirty, etc.

In art, humor, stage, screen, literature, poetry, music, spoken word, etc.....there needs to be a balance of dark and light.....rude and polite....sexy and demure....mean and nice......there needs to be a balance. We can choose what resonates with us, and make decisions accordingly. But you can't have the sweet without the sour. It simply is....the human experience, not utopia. (Who the fuck wants that?) Do this: Google "Yin & Yang".

With sex....some people like to be whipped....while others prefer missionary only, and only with the lights out. In music....some people like loud and bombastic, with colorful language....while others like soft orchestral strings in a darkened music hall. In literature....some people like Outlander...Hollywood Wives...The Kama Sutra.....while others like The Bible....Charlotte's Web....Robert Frost.

When we start censoring things down to the most fragile sensibility.....we screen out some of the most enriching......provocative.....thought provoking.....angering....arousing.....content in the fabric of the human experience. In which case, we'd erase.......Greek legends....Biblical fables.....The Kama Sutra.....Robin Williams.....Dave Chappell.......Mapplethorpe.....Janis Joplin.....Marilyn Monroe......The Shawshank Redemption......Lauren Bacall......Frank Sinatra......The Rolling Stones.......pretty much every rap song ever.....pretty much every soap opera ever......Grease.......Madonna......Lady Gaga......Rock & Roll........Andy Warhol......The 60's.....The 70's......New Orleans......Paris........museums.......poetry....romance novels.......lingerie......nipple clamps......The Bachelor.....The Bachelorette.....Playboy Magazine....Playgirl Magazine.....Camille Paglia.....most of literature.....college.......bondage........Breaking Bad.......The Walking Dead......Edgar Allen Poe.........Yellowstone.......Saving Private Ryan.....Don Rickles......Rita Hayworth......beer commercials.......Eddie Murphy.......Cher........I'd go on, but this could take hours. I'm sure you get the point.

reply

Sure, those things can exist, but not in the workplace.

Keep smut, sexual harassment and degrading nicknames out of it.

reply

Their podcast WAS their workplace (and their context)...every bit as much as Howard Stern and Robin's radio show is THEIR workplace....every bit as much as the stage is Dave Chappell's workplace....every bit as much as the airwaves are Ice Cube's workplace.....

You just don't get it. And I've lost interest in discussing it with you. SMH...

reply

I think that was actor/comedian Michael Richards, who was on Seinfeld.

reply

Hang him.

reply

And let's not forget his greatest crime. Being a white man! Can't have that. Let's bring in Levar Burton! He's the next Michael Strahan of game show hosts!

reply

Yes he got fired for being a white man by racist Twitter trolls that are likely too stupid to be Jeopardy fans. Maybe he'll develop a Beauty and the Geek revival now.

reply

Actually an internal investigation into workplace culture found that many didn't like working for him. His ethnicity has nothing to do with that.

reply

Yes it did. He got fired because a bunch of racist psychos on twitter who are too stupid to be Jeopardy fans to begin with we’re mad Lavar Burton wasn’t named as the Host. With that in mind they digged through his past to see what they could find to twist online to ruin his life and rob him of his career simply because he’s a white male. These lunatics think they are justified in their racism.

reply

He has now gotten a high powered lawyer in attempt to fight back against his unjust firing. This how you begin to fight back against the racist cancel culture lunatics. https://popculture.com/tv-shows/news/fired-jeopardy-host-mike-richards-takes-big-step-toward-potential-lawsuit/

reply