Despite myriad changes at parent company Paramount Skydance, Jon Stewart hopes to remain Comedy Central’s mainstay. The daily show.
The political comedian spoke about his projects with The New Yorker» David Remnick at Legacy magazine’s festival in the city, which ends today. When asked by the editor if Stewart would choose to renew his contract with the cable channel, the host replied, “We’re working to stay,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“You don’t compromise on what you do, and you do it until they tell you to leave,” he said of his dedication to keeping his show honest.
Around this time last year, the multi-hyphenate, 24-time Emmy winner, announced his stay on the show, extending his contract through the end of 2025. Stewart’s return shook the late-night world when it was announced in January 2024, nearly a decade after his departure in 2015. Originally slated to host Monday nights until the presidential election in 2024, it It was no surprise that his term was extended given that the hearings shook his retaliation. cemented.
However, a lot has changed in the media landscape since the comic’s second act, namely David Ellison’s Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount, giving rise to a newly formed conglomerate that appears increasingly willing to bend to the wishes of President Donald Trump, as Stewart criticized on his show. Despite numerous recent disruptions in the entertainment industry, including the shocking cancellation of CBS shows The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the preemption of ABC on Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Stewart has remained a clear-eyed and fervent critic of corporate curvature and the current administration. (Although Paramount stood by its decision regarding The late show was purely financial, Stewart questioned his timing, days after Stephen Colbert blasted his home network’s decision to settle the Trump dispute. 60 minutes lawsuit, calling it a “big bribe” to hype Paramount’s impending merger.)
Back home Daily show duties after a brief summer hiatus before the Paramount-Skydance merger officially closed, Stewart joked late at night, “I was a little worried. We took the end of summer there, and I don’t know if you noticed, but we new owners here at the network. You didn’t know if they would let us in the building? But good news, we haven’t heard from them, but one of the windows was left open, so here we are.
And, during an emergency recording of The daily show The Thursday immediately following Kimmel’s suspension, Stewart made a point of being “patriotically obedient” to Trump in an effort to avoid being taken off the air. “We have another show that is fun, hilarious and compliant with administrative rules,” he joked. “I come to you tonight from the absolute shithole, crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It’s a huge disaster like no one has ever seen before. Someone’s National Guard should invade this place, right?”
During the conversation with Remnick, who also touched on topics ranging from No Kings rallies to the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival, Stewart also argued that comedians are not “the victims of this administration.”
“We are a visible manifestation of certain things, but the victims are the victims, they are the people who are struggling to have a voice and who are being forcibly removed from the streets by hooded officers, they are the victims of this administration,” he said.
