Chuck D responds to contestant's wrong response on 'Jeopardy' - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Misidentified Chuck D says everybody doesn’t ‘know everything,’ even on ‘Jeopardy’

A man wearing a black tracksuit sings into microphone on stage with his fist raised in front of an American flag
Rapper Chuck D understands there are people who don’t who he is.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

Rap icon Chuck D took it in stride after a contestant on “Jeopardy†went viral for flubbing an answer with him as the question.

Halley Ryherd failed pretty spectacularly when attempting to responding in the “Chuck D, Times 3†category on Wednesday’s episode of the long-running answer-and-question TV show.

The $600 answer read: “In the 1980s Chuck D began fighting the power in this hip-hop group with Flavor Flav, a man who always knew what time it was.â€

Advertisement

Ryherd’s question: “What is the Funky Bunch?†Wrong: That’s the ‘90s hip-hop group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, which was fronted by actor Mark Wahlberg. The correct response, which was given by fellow contestant Pete Chattrabhuti, is pioneering rap group Public Enemy, as any good student of popular culturemight know.

After the clip of Ryherd’s error was mocked on social media, Chuck D himself stepped in with good vibrations. He was sympathetic to the flub, replying to a tweet that suggested Ryherd “get credit for being the most wrong she could possibly be.â€

The initiative aims to amplify and multiply the conversation on hip-hop culture across artistic disciplines.

“Everybody don’t know everything … it’s why I introduce myself wherever I go and whoever I talk to … it’s just courtesy,†tweeted the “Bring ahe Noise†rapper along with a video of the entire “Chuck D, Times 3†category.

Advertisement

“But the sad thing is not knowing those other Chuck Ds,†he continued, referring to Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens, whose names were also responses in the category.

This wasn’t the first time Chuck D has been used as a question on the show. In 2019, his name was a question in a “Hip-Hop Musicians’ Real Names†category.

“The leader of Public Enemy was originally Carlton Ridenhour,†read the $1,600 clue. Similar to Ryherd’s situation, the first contestant incorrectly guessed Flavor Flav before another contestant responded correctly.

Advertisement

Ryherd, a real estate attorney from Iowa, also took to Twitter..

“I’ve talk to my therapist about it and I think I’m ready to forever be the person who mixed up Public Enemy and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch on @Jeopardy. #mylegacy,†she tweeted.

Ryherd went on to win the episode and returned to the show the following day. But her reign as champion was cut short after she was bested by Syracuse-based philosophy professor David Bzdak.

Advertisement