Fans have been glad to see Jon Stewart back behind the desk at The Daily Show on Mondays, and the comedian is feeling the same way, too, confirming that he’d like to extend his return. Stewart’s contract to host Comedy Central’s The Daily Show ends in December.
On Sunday, during a conversation with New Yorker editor David Remnick at New Yorker Festival, Remnick asked Stewart if he was going to “sign another” deal, as The Hollywood Reporter reports. The host responded that “we’re working on staying.”
Remnick asked Stewart if he wanted to remain helming the show, and Stewart confirmed he did.
Stewart began hosting The Daily Show in 1999 — taking the place of original host Craig Kilborn — and stayed with the program until 2015, leaving before Donald Trump’s rise and the 2016 presidential elections. He returned in January 2024 to host Monday nights. About a year ago Stewart announced he would continue at The Daily Show through December, as THR notes. However, that was before Trump returned as president and Paramount, owners of Comedy Central, merged with Skydance. Stewart has referred to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison as his “new boss.”
The late-night TV landscape has been in the midst of controversial upheaval of late. In July, CBS announced The Late Show would end next year (CBS is also owned by Paramount). Hosted by Stewart’s former The Daily Show colleague Stephen Colbert for the last decade, The Late Show’s impending demise news came as the Paramount merger with Skydance was still awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission, whose chair answers to Trump. That same month, Trump had received a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit he filed against CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes episode. To boot, Colbert has long been a vocal critic of Trump. CBS said in its announcement of the cancellation that “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended for less than a week last month, after comments he made on Jimmy Kimmel Live! about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassin and following a threat from President Donald Trump’s FCC chair Brendan Carr, who publicly called on licensed broadcasters to stop airing Kimmel’s show. Nexstar and Sinclair temporarily preempted the show on their respective affiliate stations.
From Rolling Stone US
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