Ryan Reynolds is throwing his support behind LeVar Burton as the new host of Jeopardy! following the ouster of Mike Richards.
The actor cryptically addressed the Reading Rainbow icon’s campaign to helm the game show on Twitter by comparing the situation to his role as Deadpool.
“Pretty consistently from 2013 to 2015 Deadpool would explode on Twitter with fans wanting me to play him. It was awkward because I agreed with them but the studio didn’t see it. Ultimately the fans won and the rest is glorious history. I’m forever grateful,” he tweeted on Friday before adding a cheeky “Hi @levarburton” at the end.
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For his part, Burton quickly took note of the shout-out, and responded directly to the tweet using a series of praying hands and purple heart emojis. Check out Reynolds’ clever endorsement of Burton, as well as the actor’s grateful response, below.
Of course, the former Star Trek star was in contention to replace the late, great Alex Trebek late last month, when he guest hosted the long-running trivia show from July 26th through the 30th. (This alone was a major win for Burton’s fans, who started a petition signed by more than 250,000 people to get him the guest hosting gig.)
Execs initially decided to go with Richards for the permanent hosting role; however, the former Price is Right producer resigned this week in the wake of controversy over his history of discrimination lawsuits and problematic statements regarding women, Jews, and people with disabilities after taping just one week of shows.
Meanwhile, Reynolds has returned to movie theaters this week, starring in big screen video game send-up Free Guy alongside Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, and Taika Waititi.
🙏🏾💜🙏🏾
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) August 21, 2021
