‘Jeopardy!’ Winner Calls the Show’s Fans ‘The Worst Kind of Human Beings’

Recent Jeopardy! winner Yogesh Raut is drawing the ire of the show’s audience and some former champs. Raut went on a three-game winning streak that started earlier this month. He took home over $90,000. At the same time, his blog and podcast likely benefitted from the nationwide exposure. However, that wasn’t enough to make the self-proclaimed trivia master happy. Before his pre-recorded episodes finished airing, he took to social media to blast the series.

Yogesh Raut had an impressive trivia resume before his Jeopardy! wins. He finished in the top 10 of the 2022 LearnedLeague Rundle Championship and the Quizzing World Cup. The fact that his short stint on the iconic quiz show brought him more accolades and money than any of his other accomplishments infuriated him. As a result, he went on a rant about how overblown the show is in the eyes of its viewers. Some fans and former champs like James Holzhauer took issue with his comments. As a result, Raut found himself on the receiving end of some backlash.

Now, instead of going after the show online, the former winner is taking aim at Jeopardy! fans.

Yogesh Raut Takes Aim at Jeopardy! Fans

According to Pop Culture, Raut made sure to clarify that he wasn’t insulting Jeopardy! producers, crew, or hosts. At the same time, he has no ill will toward his fellow contestants, even Katie Palumbo who ended his winning streak. Instead, his problem is with the fans.

“What is it about Jeopardy! that causes the worst kind of human beings to be so drawn to it and invested in it?” He wrote on Facebook in a wider rant about the show and its fans.

He went on to say that Jeopardy! isn’t the problem. Instead, he says that the show’s popularity is the real problem.

“There never has been, and never will be, any justification for treating Jeopardy! as the Olympics of quizzing,” he wrote. The three-time winner added that there will never be a healthy “quizzing culture” in America “until we learn to stop pretending” that the long-running TV show is important.

Raut Faces Backlash

All of his criticisms of the show led many fans to call Raut a “sore loser” among other things. Trivia champ James Holzhauer also had a few choice words for him. Holzhauer quote-tweeted a news story about Raut’s comments and added some heavy criticism of his own. “Anyone who’s ever used social media to criticize Jeopardy! or its producers should get a lifetime band from the show.”

However, it is unclear if Holzhauer was joking or not. In the past, he has used social media to criticize the show’s former producer Michael Richards after he took over hosting duties in the wake of Alex Trebek’s passing.