'Jeopardy!' Producers Denied CNN's Laura Coates a Chance at Hosting, Despite Alex Trebek's Support

CNN’s Laura Coates claims she was snubbed from being given the chance to host Jeopardy! after the tragic passing of Alex Trebek.

If you don’t know, Alex actually handpicked Laura as one of his choices for who should succeed him.

“There is an attorney, Laura Coates. She’s African American and she appears on some of the cable news shows from time to time. Very bright, very personable,” Alex told TMZ’s Harvey Levin in an interview before his passing.

Click inside to read what Laura said happened…

While making an appearance on Tamron Hall‘s talk show, Laura explained that she was honored by Alex‘s words.

“I was honored by it and I had a chance to thank him and also to reach out to him while he struggled with pancreatic cancer,” Laura said. “And I asked for the opportunity when it came time, when they were looking for people to possibly fill in. I certainly raised my hand and knocked on doors and found them closed.”

“And I asked for the opportunity. I was told ‘no,’ which is one of those moments when you have to remember to wear your own jersey,” she added. “You have to remember to continue to be your own champion in other respects and sometimes the vision that you have for yourself — or those that surprise you, other people — don’t align with what happens, and that happened there.”

There were six names that were frontrunners for the job pretty early on, and Laura was not on the list.