Jeopardy! execs defend divisive 3-day champ Yogesh Raut's angry online posts after fans rip his beha

JEOPARDY! contestant Yogesh Raut caused such a stir both on and off stage that the game show’s bosses have buzzed in about it.

They defended his divisive gameplay style and for posting "vigorous" Facebook rants after his three-day streak ended.

Executive producer, Michael Davies, began on Monday's show podcast Inside Jeopardy!: "We have to talk about Yogesh at this point."

"I have to tell you, I love a character."

"We should say, Yogesh has received some criticism online saying that he lacked sportsmanship in his defeat."

The $98,000 winner made a splash with his braggy on-stage stories and unusual buzzer technique before his defeat on Jeopardy! last Monday.

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Yogesh used three of his four stories to flex that he beat James Holzhauer at high school trivia, got recognized by a now-deceased contestant, and even beat host Ken Jennings, 48, at a trivia convention.

This persona didn't go over well, nor did his failure to clap for his victor.

Yogesh then posted various online rants slamming fans and peers for not liking what they saw.

'WE'D NEVER CENSOR A CONTESTANT'

Davies continued on the touchy topic: "I like the fact that having been criticized, Yogesh took and defended himself - I would say vigorously and at length."

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"Here's the thing, Jeopardy! is not prone to criticism. We're not beyond criticism.

"You don't have to come on Jeopardy! and say lovely things about the game. We are a game and we want the very best players coming on.

"I sometimes feel bad because we don't prepare our contestants for the era of social media.

"Just as I wouldn't take away the right of people in our viewing community to express things they like or dislike, I wouldn't ever want to censor a contestant who defends himself.

"Even if what he or she has to say is not the most flattering to Jeopardy! 

"All our contestants deserve respect. It's very difficult to imagine the pressure you're under. I think Yogesh made some good points within his lengthy responses."

"You don't see all interactions within a tightly edited program.

"Players like Yogesh will always be welcomed on the Alex Trebek stage."

'I DID CONGRATULATE HER'

In one Facebook post, the brief winner went long on his stint while sharing an image of an internet post that called him "arrogant."

"Let's talk here about the criticisms of my 'sportsmanship,'" he wrote.

"You may not see me congratulate the person who beat me on camera.

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DIDN'T CONGRATULATE THEM."

Yogesh continued: "Jeopardy! is shot in an assembly-line fashion, and contestants get separated and whisked away fairly quickly."

"Still, before I was funneled out of the studio, I turned around and walked back to the stage, said 'Excuse me' to politely break into a conversation between that person and a producer.

"And gave them a quick (because I was interrupting) yet unambiguous 'Great game!'"

Yogesh concluded: "What does it mean when people read aggression into the behavior of dark-skinned men?"

In a second fiery Facebook post, he also ripped: "If anything I’ve said has offended you ... well, there’s probably a way I could have phrased it that would have hurt your feelings even more.

"And I hereby apologize to myself for not phrasing it that way."

'JEOPARDY! IS NOT IMPORTANT'

Yogesh's rants continued, causing a swirl in trivia circles where he has apparently been a big figure for a long time.

"Jeopardy has not nor will ever be the Olympics of quizzing," he wrote.

"Jeopardy is not the problem, its centrality to American quizzing culture is.

"There will never be healthy quizzing culture in this country until we can learn to stop pretending Jeopardy! is important."

Yogesh then insulted the community for being gossipy - ranting about how insiders knew he would win before his games aired.

He called out many of its beloved figures for propagating Jeopardy! as the main marker of trivia success - which was quite surprising to read.

He called reporter Claire McNear - who discovered former executive producer Mike Richard's sexist comments thus getting him fired - "anodyne," and "status quo-celebrating."

He also mentioned: "Amy Schneider's BS relating quizzing expertise to 'privilege.'"

Hardcore fans were left in a tizzy by all of this as one tweeted: "I don’t watch Jeopardy, but I am extremely invested in the guy who won three times.

"But was apparently bad on the buzzer, then began a multi-week Facebook meltdown about how Jeopardy is not the REAL quizzing world and compared himself to Muhammad Ali."

Another wrote: "Real funny how you complain about gossip and misogyny in the Jeopardy! community while unjustifiably going after [beloved fashion Twitter blogger] Lilly, Claire MCnear, and Amy like you have.

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"You clearly have a lot to say about people just because you're mad that you didn't earn your precious Tournament of Champions spot."

Because Yogesh lost after three wins he did not meet the threshold to return for the Tournament of Champions.

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