Amy Schneider, who won more than $1.6 million on Jeopardy!, had a pointed response to an online troll who wondered if she was “given insider help” to boost the quiz show’s diversity, equity, and inclusion, presumably because she’s transgender.
“Was Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider given insider help to boost DEI?” a user going by El Dingo Goat wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Her 40-game streak raised eyebrows — did producers tip the scales?”
“Ooh, I actually have direct, first-hand information regarding this question!” Schneider replied. “No, I was not. You don’t have to wonder about this any more! Now you can do literally anything else with your life instead.”
Schneider, then a software engineer and now a full-time writer, had her 40-game streak in 2021-2022 and went on to win that season’s Tournament of Champions, for a total of $1,682,800 in winnings. She is the top woman contestant in terms of both regular-season and overall winnings, and she is the first out trans contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. Her 40-game streak puts her behind Ken Jennings, now the Jeopardy! host, who won 74 consecutive games in 2004.
Bringing positive transgender representation to TV was “the most rewarding part of the whole experience” on Jeopardy!, Schneider told The Advocate in 2022. She has sometimes responded to transphobic trolls on her X feed, but mostly she has analyzed the game.
She has published two books: In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life, a memoir that came out in 2023, and a version of the book for young readers, Who Is Amy Schneider?: Questions on Growing Up, Being Curious, and Winning It Big on Jeopardy!, which came out this year.
This article originally appeared on Advocate: No, Amy Schneider wasn’t a DEI winner on ‘Jeopardy!’
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