After struggling to buzz in quickly during his ”Celebrity Jeopardy!“ semifinal game, entrepreneur David Friedberg returned the $7 buzzer he’d purchased on Amazon and went for a $60 one that could time him and actually help him improve ahead of his appearance in the finals.
Stand-up comedian W. Kamau Bell’s preparation for the final wasn’t as extensive.
He stuck with his strategy of studying with Wikipedia but, as he joked with host Ken Jennings, his study was pretty much limited to his own Wikipedia page.
As it turned out, Bell’s best preparation for his “Celebrity Jeopardy!” final matchup against Friedberg and actor/comedian Robin Thede took place on the drive over to the studio the morning of the game.
That’s when his 10-year-old daughter quizzed him on a category exclusively about Olivia Rodrigo.
“And I nailed it,” he said. “I nailed it.”
But when Jennings asked Bell if he’d rather have had the Olivia Rodrigo training or Friedberg’s buzzer prep, the comedian didn’t hesitate.
“I love my family, but that’s better,“ he said.
“We’ll see,” Jennings responded. “We’ll see.“
By that point, the show’s host, who had all of the future clues at his disposal, knew Bell’s Olivia Rodrigo knowledge likely wouldn’t be entirely useless during the game.
But he didn’t know that it would put Bell in a really good position to win the third season of “Celebrity Jeopardy!”
Olivia Rodrigo knowledge pays off for W. Kamau Bell
At the end of the first round, the game was fairly even. Bell was in last place, but only $1,800 separated him from Friedberg, who was in first.
During the second round — which featured a few categories that played on the contestants’ names — Thede took the lead when she made a fairly large wager on a Daily Double clue that tested her knowledge of the Jordan Peele horror flick “Get Out.”
With a $3,000 wager, she brought her total to $7,800. Friedberg, meanwhile, had $5,800 while Bell was still in third with $5,000.
But the comedian’s moment to shine was soon at hand.
With just two clues remaining on the board in the second round, Bell selected the $200 clue in the category “2020s hitmakers.”
Laughter erupted throughout the studio as Jennings began to read the clue.
“Olivia Rodrigo broke our hearts with her first No. 1 hit, a ballad named for — of all things — this government-issued form of I.D."
Bell enthusiastically buzzed in: “What is ‘drivers license?‘“ he shouted.
When Jennings deemed that the response correct, Bell exclaimed “Yes!“ five times and said the game could end there and he’d be happy going home.
But Jennings assured Bell he’d likely want to stick around.
That’s because the final clue on the board — which went straight to Bell for correctly responding to the Olivia Rodrigo clue — was a Daily Double.
Bell went all in for the moment, wagering all of his $5,600 on another clue in the “2020s hitmakers” category.
“He landed his fourth No. 1 hit in 2024 with ‘Not Like Us,’ a diss track aimed at Drake — oh, and he also has a Pulitzer Prize, NBD."
With his correct response — “Who is Kendrick Lamar?“ — Bell doubled his score and had the lead with $11,200 going into the third round.
Thede was in second with $8,000, while Friedberg trailed behind with $6,200.
Daily Double mishaps
Thede gained some momentum in the Triple Jeopardy round when she landed on a Daily Double clue in a category that tested the players’ knowledge of “Bohemian Rhapsody” lyrics — a subject she said she had a lot of confidence in.
She added $4,500 to her score to bring her total to $14,000. Friedberg, on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate when it came to Daily Doubles.
The entrepreneur landed on the round’s two other Daily Doubles, and missed both.
Friedberg lost $4,000 when he failed to come up with the poet who is Taylor Swift’s sixth cousin, three times removed (Emily Dickinson). He later lost another $4,000 when he couldn’t come up with the Civil War drama that gave Denzel Washington his first Oscar (“Glory”).
Somewhat reminiscent of his semifinal game — which he won after trailing far behind the other two contestants due in part to buzzer trouble — Friedberg was in last place going into the Final Jeopardy round.
Thede had the lead with $15,500, while Bell trailed not too far behind with $13,600.
Friedberg wasn’t able to pull off the come-from-behind victory this time around.
W. Kamau Bell wins ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’
Bell was the only contestant who knew the answer to the Final Jeopardy clue in the category “In Memoriam 2024″: “This comedy legend always credited his wife Ginnie for the idea behind what is still called one of the greatest finales in TV history.”
With his correct response — “Who is Bob Newhart?” — and a large wager, Bell became the 2025 winner of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” with a total of $27,199.
By emerging victorious at the end of a season that started with 27 celebrities, Bell earned a $1 million prize for his charity of choice — DonorsChoose, a nonprofit that funds classroom projects.
Thede and Friedberg each earned $175,000 for their respective charities.
Bell’s victory prolongs the comedian winning streak on “Celebrity Jeopardy!”
Ike Barinholtz, known for his role in the sitcom “The Mindy Project,” won the inaugural season of the “Jeopardy!” spinoff in 2023 — and made a good run in the Tournament of Champions, becoming the first celebrity to compete alongside players from the regular season, as the Deseret News previously reported.
The following year, “Abbott Elementary” star Lisa Ann Walter won “Celebrity Jeopardy!” Now, Bell’s win makes comedians three for three on victories.