‘Jeopardy!’ contestant breaks silence over sexist clue that forced host Ken Jennings to apologize

nypost.com:

“sexist” clue came up during her episode.During an episode of the popular game show on Oct. 28, players had to complete the rhyming phrase “Men seldom make passes at…” for $400.Returning champion Will Wallace correctly answered “Girls who wear glasses” — but the situation became awkward as his female competitor, Heather Ryan, was wearing glasses at the time.Ryan, who works as a health program director from Binghamton, NY, thought that the phrase made everybody on the stage and in the audience “uncomfortable.”“It is definitely an odd choice,” Ryan told Binghamton University’s student-run newspaper Pipe Dream. “I think it made everybody in the audience and on stage, and (host) Ken Jennings too, a little uncomfortable.

It was like, ‘Oh, that was unexpected.’”“Maybe we choose better rhyming phrases in 2024.”“Unfortunately, there are still girls who are [in] middle school and they don’t want to wear their glasses and they’re losing out on their education,’ she added.

Ryan said she still had a “great time” on the show despite the controversial moment that aired on nationwide television.“’It’s just a very special thing to play a small role in this big part,” Ryan said. “’It’s been running for 40 years, and so I got to play my part in it.”After Wallace correctly guessed the answer by saying “what are girls who wear glasses,” Jennings, a former “Jeopardy!” contestant who holds the record for the longest consecutive winning streak, apologized for the answer but didn’t appear to stay in the unexpected moment for long.“Yeah, a little bit problematic, Sorry Heather,” Jennings calmy replied to the glasses-wearing contestant.“Very,” Wallace quipped before quickly moving on to the next question.Viewers watched Ryan’s smile fade as she.