Imagine that, a Black Jeopardy host!
The Reading Rainbow legend Levar Burton wants to be the next Jeopardy host. Since the sad passing of Alex Trebek last year, there have been several temporary hosts, but a permanent one hadn’t filled the position. As reported on The Jasmine Brand, Burton shared a petition about having him as the host. The message says,
“Between hosting 21 seasons of the educational Reading Rainbow, playing the brainiac engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and filling the role of Kunta Kinte in the ever-important mini-series Roots, LeVar Burton has inspired and shaped the minds of several generations of trivia-loving nerds. This petition is to show Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and producers Mike Richards and Harry Friedman just how much love the public has for Burton and how much we’d all love to see him as the next host of Jeopardy!”
Burton responded to it and said, “Leaving this here in the event the powers that be are listening…” The petition has nearly 250K signatures so far. Burton appeared on USA Today’s The Mothership Podcast and said he’s serious about wanting to be the new host. He said he thinks he’ll be a good fit for it. Earlier this month, we asked our social media users how they felt about Burton being the new host, and fans WANT THIS! Take a look: