Jon Stewart Expounds on Why He’s Leaving “The Daily Show”

Through a few chats with The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman, Jon Stewart gives his two cents and then some why he’s leaving the show that has become a cornerstone for so many people for well over a decade.

In his own words, he explains, “It’s not like I thought the show wasn’t working any more, or that I didn’t now how to do it. It was more, ‘Yup, it’s working. But I’m not getting the same satisfaction.”

While Stewart has built himself and The Daily Show into the sort of legendary groundbreaking institution that Saturday Night Live once was revered for being, it’s a lot to ask of anyone to keep that up even for a few years, save 16.

Freeman finds that Stewart is leaving The Daily Show while it’s still humming along quite nicely so he can do other things besides watch Fox News and go through commenting on another election year.

One should note that, on top of Stewart’s exit, nearly all the most senior regular correspondents are leaving, which means that The Daily Show, this year, will be almost look entirely new with Trevor Noah as host and Hasan Minhaj, Jordan Klepper, and Jessica Williams as the day-in-day out correspondents. 

Though it might not be a shake-up that some are looking for in late night, it will be a shake-up nonetheless, which we’re more than ready for.