Jon Stewart is tagging back in to host Thursday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Comedy Central has announced. Stewart normally just hosts Monday episodes of the talk show, with a rotating list of the show’s correspondents on Tuesday through Thursday. This week, Desi Lydic has been handling hosting duties.
But Stewart clearly has something to say in light of Disney and ABC’s decision to bench “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host Jimmy Kimmel. The network and its parent company have been criticized for the move, which came after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened Disney if it didn’t muzzle the host.
In his Monday monologue, Kimmel took on right-wing pundits who were looking to frame the shooter who killed pundit Charlie Kirk as a leftist, when the alleged killer’s actual motivation is still unclear. The right wing media and politicians latched on Kimmel’s line, and Carr went on ultra right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson’s show to serve up veiled threats at Disney, saying that the FCC has “remedies we can look at. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Thursday’s episode of “The Daily Show” will feature 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Maria Ressa, who is the CEO of Rappler, a Columbia University professor and author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator.” Ressa knows a thing or two about fighting a government that is trying to silence the free press; in the Philippines, she was arrested and later found guilty of libel due to the fact that Rappler was critical of then-President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa said the charges were politically motivated.
“The Daily Show” airs at 11 p.m. ET on Comedy Central, with the episode available on Paramount+ the next morning. Stewart hosts alongside “The Daily Show” news team, including Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, and Desi Lydic with Troy Iwata and Grace Kuhlenschmidt.
It’s not a surprise that Stewart would want to make a special exception and host Thursday’s episode, given the tight relationship that all of the late night talk show hosts now share. And clearly this is personal, as the Trump administration continues to attack all of the late night hosts for expressing their takes on Washington.
Stewart previously addressed the cancellation of CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (which he also executive produces) in a July episode:
“The fact that CBS didn’t try to save their number one-rated network late-night franchise that’s been on the air for over three decades is part of what’s making everybody wonder, was this purely financial?” Stewart said. “Or maybe the path of least resistance for your $8 billion merger was killing a show that you know rankled a fragile and vengeful president, so insecure, suffering terribly from a case of chronic penis insufficiency.”
Stewart also took on all media companies who think “bending the knee to Trump” will save them. With the help of a gospel choir, Stewart sang, “But if you’re afraid and you protect your bottom line, I got but one thing to say: Go fuck yourself!”
