Yogesh Raut is speaking out after experiencing “some of the ugliest forms of racism there are.”
As Raut racked up more than half a million dollars on Jeopardy! and Jeopardy! Masters, fans bashed him over his demeanor on stage, his buzzer technique, and his boasts during the competition.
And then fans found Raut’s Facebook critiques of Jeopardy!, in which he said the show “has not nor will ever be the Olympics of quizzing” and that toxic fans make the show “fundamentally incompatible with true social justice.”
Now, in a new interview with The U.S. Sun, Raut is defending his views. “Oftentimes, when I’m being critical, I’m talking about a segment of the fandom, because people have supported me, defended me, reached out to me telling me I’m an inspiration,” he said. “The critical comments I made are fundamentally targeted at a minority of the fandom — a loud and vocal part.”
He went on: “I tell uncomfortable truths. That is a key part of my narrative. I am not throwing tantrums, I am not ‘ranting.’ I am a grown man with three master’s degrees, an elite quizzer, and a person who has personally experienced some of the ugliest forms of racism there are.”
Raut also denied accusations that he has an axe to grind with the show after losing in his fourth game of regular play. “Almost everyone repeated comments I said after I lost, which provides the implication that my comments were a result of my loss,” he explained. “Many people can testify I said most of those things in the exact same way before I knew I’d ever be in Jeopardy! … I am not a sore loser.”
He added: “When I chose to speak, I chose to speak what I believed to be true based on that, not because I was having an emotional reaction to the ten millionth time I have lost something.”
And Raut discussed Jeopardy! executive producer Michael Davies not characterizing the backlash against Raut as attacks — Raut reported being doxxed, receiving hate mail, and needing to file a police report — and calling the Vancouver, Washington-based contestant a “character” on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.
“No one reported on what a ghastly thing that was to say,” Raut told The U.S. Sun. “It was unacceptable behavior. These statements were over a year old, and no one had pointed out how objectionable they were.”
He added: “In spite of that, I have persevered. I have established myself as one of the top people in the quizzing community, and unlike the rest of the top, none of them have been persecuted the way I was while being good at it and being good at it with the ‘wrong’ skin color. That feels like a story. … When someone is willing to explicitly say they don’t think I’m a human being, there is no point in making them think I am one.”
Raut’s Jeopardy! time likely isn’t over. The U.S. Sun projects he’ll be back for a 2025 edition of Jeopardy! Masters, alongside 2024 winner Victoria Groce and fellow finalist James Holzhauer.
Meanwhile, he’s busy with his podcast, Recreational Thinking, his blog, The Wronger Box, and learning more trivia.
“My entire life, I’ve heard, ‘It seems like you have such a narrow life.’ But I don’t know,” he said. “This ‘trivia hobby’ covers the entire breadth of human existence from the beginning of time onward. … I don’t think this is a narrow way of living or having a life.”
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