LeVar Burton has responded to a journalist’s comments on Twitter after the journalist outright assumed that Burton would take the permanent hosting job of Jeopardy! if offered to him. It was recently discovered that Burton, who was yearning for the permanent host position, no longer wanted to pursue the game show at all.
“The crazy thing is that when you set your sights on something, you know, they say be careful of what you wish for, because what I found out is that it wasn’t the thing that I wanted after all,” Burton said following the recent controversy of the firing of Mike Richards.
LeVar Burton responds to ‘Jeopardy!’ comments from L.A. Times journalist
No Stephen, he wouldn’t!
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) September 18, 2021
Los Angeles Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio voiced his opinion on Twitter, saying that he believed Burton would still take the job if they offered it to him. Burton had some tough words for him. “Please. If offered, he would take it in a heartbeat,” Stephen says in response to another tweet. Burton chimes in, saying, “No Stephen, he wouldn’t!”
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No, Stephen… you don’t get a pass. You made erroneous assumptions about me and made them public. Throughout this entire ordeal I have done my utmost best to take the high road in spite of the amount of vitriol and bile some folks have felt it necessary to post on my timeline.
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) September 18, 2021
Fans came to Burton’s defense, attacking Stephen for his comments. That’s when Stephen attempted to change the conversation, saying, “It was an opinion. I apologized to him and his fans. So let’s move on, OK.” Well, that wasn’t Burton’s plan. He responded, “No, Stephen… you don’t get a pass. You made erroneous assumptions about me and made them public. Throughout this entire ordeal I have done my utmost best to take the high road in spite of the amount of vitriol and bile some folks have felt it necessary to post on my timeline.”
I have a perspective on this entire J! saga which I intend to share at a time of my choosing, probably my memoirs. As a journalist I hope you can appreciate that any and all speculation about my motives or intentions is simply uninformed.
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) September 18, 2021
ABC recently announced that Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings would be splitting hosting responsibilities with Mayim Bialik for the remainder of the season.