The feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has a long history that’s taken some entertaining turns lately (including the rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You being used in a response). Never to be outdone, however, Jeopardy! Masters star James Holzhauer is kindly reminding people that brutal beefs can also play out on the stage of classic quiz shows, as he shared one of the sickest burns in Jeopardy! history in response to a social media commentary about diss tracks.
One X (Twitter) user’s musing about beef between people in the music industry caught the eye of the self-proclaimed “final boss” of the quiz show world James Holzhauer this week. In response to the sentiment that feuds such as the one between Kendrick Lamar and Drake don’t work in other genres, one of Jeopardy!’s biggest winners had the best response, posting:
pic.twitter.com/xCTQWICfXF https://t.co/ra3dqWtnSXMay 6, 2024
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why James Holzhauer is THE resident troll of Jeopardy! This absolute demolishing of Brad Rutter came during 2020’s Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament, which pit the 2019 Tournament of Champions winner (who holds every spot in the Top 10 of single-game winnings) against Ken Jennings — record-holder of most consecutive games won — and Rutter, who has earned more money than any other Jeopardy! champion.
In the clip, the trio was about to begin a new game, with Ken Jennings leading the way with previous winnings of 65,600 points. James Holzhauer trailed with 34,181, and Brad Rutter unfortunately had no points. When Alex Trebek — one of the greatest game show hosts of all time — reset the scores, Rutter’s obviously stayed the same, leading Holzhauer to jokingly whine:
Hey, Brad’s score’s still on there.
That truly is as harsh as any diss track I’ve ever heard, and the audience reacted like they’d just witnessed a mic drop at a rap battle. Ken Jennings doubled over in laughter before proclaiming, “Wow!” and poor Brad Rutter could do nothing but smile through the pain. Alex Trebek said it best with his response:
It’s gotten to be that kind of competition, hasn’t it?
James Holzhauer can talk a good game, but Ken Jennings bested him in the GOAT Tournament, creating a friendly rivalry between the two. Holzhauer has been gunning for a rematch ever since, but according to Jennings that’s unlikely to happen, as the current-day host isn’t pressing his luck after saying he thinks he “got some breaks” in that tournament against his contemporaries.
Although The Chase star has actually been known to give sweet advice to his fellow contestants, he’s still taken playful shots at Jeopardy! and its players over the years. The game show’s plan for continuing through the entertainment industry strikes led to some of that signature James Holzhauer snark, and the hosting debacle that followed Alex Trebek’s death has been a rich source of comedy for the Las Vegas sports gambler.
James Holzhauer had jokes about Wheel of Fortune so easily replacing outgoing host Pat Sajak. He also trolled his competition in last year’s Jeopardy! Masters by quoting a Brad Pitt movie, and he couldn’t even get through a congratulatory message to Amy Schneider without dragging Brad Rutter (again) and Ken Jennings a little.
You can see how the beef between James Holzhauer and Ken Jennings continues to develop — and if there will be any shots fired that are as brutal as the one against Brad Rutter in the GOAT Tournament — as Jeopardy! Masters continues at 8 p.m. ET Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ABC. Be sure to see what else is premiering soon with our 2024 TV schedule.