‘Jeopardy!’ champ Amy Schneider says she was robbed over weekend
The record-breaking contestant tweeted that her phone, ID and credit cards were stolen.
“Jeopardy!” contestant Amy Schneider.Casey Durkin / Jeopardy Productions, Inc.
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“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider, who was recently dubbed the show’s highest-earning female contestant, said Monday that she was robbed over the weekend.
Schneider, an engineering manager in Oakland, California, who made history last month as the first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, said on Twitter that someone stole her phone, credit cards and ID on Sunday.
The robbery occurred days after Schneider snagged her 21st consecutive win on the game show and broke the record for most wins by a woman, which was set by Julia Collins in 2014. As of Tuesday, Schneider had 24 wins under her belt.
“Hi all! So, first off: I’m fine. But I got robbed yesterday, lost my ID, credit cards, and phone. I then couldn’t really sleep last night, and have been dragging myself around all day trying to replace everything,” Schneider tweeted Monday evening.
“We were deeply saddened to hear about this incident, and we reached out to Amy privately to offer our help in any capacity,” the show said in an email to NBC News.
Police in Oakland, where Schneider resides, confirmed that they are investigating an armed robbery on Sunday afternoon without identifying the victim.
Candace Kea, a police spokesperson, told NBC News in an email that two people, one armed, fled after robbing the victim of “personal belongings.” No arrests had been made as of early Tuesday afternoon, Kea said.
While Schneider — who has earned $897,600 in “Jeopardy!” winnings so far — has made headlines for her success on the show, she has also faced a spate of anti-transgender harassment online. Over the holidays, Schneider defended herself against trolls who repeatedly misgendered her on social media.
“I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man,” she wrote. “Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind.”
As Schneider continues to gain popularity, she said she doesn’t want her gender to become the sole focus of her identity.
“I didn’t want to make too much about being trans, at least in the context of the show,” she wrote in November in a Twitter thread. “I am a trans woman, and I’m proud of that fact, but I’m a lot of other things, too!”
