Mayim Bialik’s portrayal of Amy Farrah Fowler was widely loved on The Big Bang Theory. Introduced in the third season, she quickly gained a huge fan following and was made a series regular on the show. But in the recent past, some of her statements have gained attention, but mostly in the wrong context. The most contentious of the lot was when she expressed her opinions on the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
While the entire Hollywood was shocked by the inside details of the said scandal, her comments added more fuel to the fire. Her remarks, which many saw as victim-blaming, put her in the spotlight and drew criticism from all sides. However, the actress made an effort to right the wrongs and expressed regret for her remarks.
Mayim Bialik Apologized for Her Controversial Remarks on the Harvey Weinstein Scandal
The entire Hollywood industry was taken aback when The New York Times published a story exposing several years of s*xual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Among the women, actresses like Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan also stepped forward and detailed their own plight. This brought in several reactions from other Hollywood celebrities as well.
For instance, Kevin Smith pledged to donate all of his Weinstein-related earnings to a feminist charity, to Woody Allen, trying to downplay the entire scandal. But one of the most polarizing and divisive remarks came from Big Bang fame, Mayim Bialik. The actress stirred up a slew of controversy with her New York Times article titled Being a Feminist in Harvey Weinstein’s World.
The actress was trying to detail her struggles as a young actress in the industry and feeling a sense of inadequacy with her looks as compared to her more attractive peers. But the conversation took a different turn when she added that she avoided being harassed in the industry because she dresses modestly and avoids flirting with men. Bialik had added:
I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise. I have decided that my sexual self is best reserved for private situations with those I am most intimate with. I dress modestly. I don’t act flirtatiously with men as a policy. (Further) In a perfect world, women should be free to act however they want. But our world isn’t perfect. Nothing — absolutely nothing — excuses men for assaulting or abusing women. But we can’t be naïve about the culture we live in.
But in contrast to her opinions, her remarks seemed more like victim-blaming to the public. As soon as these remarks were out in the open, a swamp of criticism followed the actress. She soon commented on the same, adding that her remarks were taken out of context. Further, she apologized to the victims for her statements and added:
You are never responsible for being assaulted… I am truly sorry for causing so much pain, and I hope you can all forgive me.
Not only this, but the actress has created several controversies throughout the years with her statements.
Jeopardy! Producer Reveals Why Mayim Bialik Was Removed From the Show
After the death of Alex Trebek, Mike Richards was brought in as a host of Jeopardy! But as soon as he got on board, several of his controversial comments in the past caught up to him. The uproar to remove him was so huge that he had to step down just nine days after taking on the opportunity. Following this, the duties of the show were split between Ken Jennings and The Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik.
But even the actress wasn’t without her own set of controversies, which led to many viewers wondering if the same fate as Richards would be repeated here as well. So, it didn’t come as a surprise to many when Bialik abruptly announced that she would no longer be a part of Jeopardy! in 2023. This led to fans generating their own theories for her removal.
But according to the show’s executive producer, Michael Davies, the story is different from what many have perceived. He added that the decision to remove Bialik was due to the show wanting a single host instead of two. Adding to this, in a recent turn of events, the show has completely erased Bialik’s presence from their website as well.