‘Jeopardy!’ Champion James Holzhauer Criticizes the Show’s Decision to Move Forward During WGA Strike

Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer is criticizing the show's answer to its latest difficult question.

After the series announced plans to move forward with the upcoming 40th season amid the ongoing WGA strike — using former contestants and recycled clues — Holzhauer pointed out what he perceived to be hypocrisy in their decision. 

In response to Monday's episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, hosted by Jeopardy! producers Michael Davies and Sarah Foss, Holzhauer said the hosts spent the beginning of the episode talking about how "Jeopardy's writers are invaluable, and we couldn't produce the show without them."

However, Holzhauer then called out the hosts for pivoting to 13 minutes of conversation about "how we will produce the upcoming season without them."

Holzhauer is the third-highest earning game-show contestant of all time, winning a total of more than $3.5 million across his multiple Jeopardy! appearances and on ABC's The Chase, alongside fellow Jeopardy! super champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. 

Across his initial 33-episode run on Jeopardy! in 2019, Holzhauer earned a total of $2,464,216, just $58,484 shy of Jennings' record for regular, non-tournament winnings on the show.

As explained in the episode, the upcoming 40th season of the show will welcome back non-winners from Season 37 for another shot at Jeopardy! glory.

"We decided that really we needed to invite back and give a second chance, in general, to players who probably thought that their chance to come back and play on the Alex Trebek Stage had gone forever," Davies explained. "So we're going to open the season with a Second Chance Tournament for players from Season 37 who lost their initial game, and winners from that will advance to a Season 37 and Season 38 champions wildcard."

As for how the show plans on getting around the Writers Guild of America strike, Davies outlined their plan for that, too.

Material for Season 40, he explained, "is a combination of material that our WGA writers wrote before the strike, which is still in the database, and material that is being redeployed from multiple seasons of the show."

Jeopardy! returns for its 40th season on Sept. 11.