On September 28, 2015, the stand-up comedian officially took over Jon Stewart for the legendary Daily Show on Comedy Central. For the past seven years, the 38-year-old has been the anchor who brought laughter and reasoning to the popular late-night show; however, to the surprise of everyone watching, that won’t be the case any longer. That’s right, Trevor Noah has decided to step down from his position on The Daily Show.
“It’s been absolutely amazing. It’s something that I never expected, ” Noah said of his experience hosting the show. “I found myself thinking throughout the time of everything we’ve gone through. The Trump presidency, the pandemic, just the journey, more pandemic and I realize that after seven years, my time is up.”
Noah expressed his gratitude over being given the opportunity to host the prestigious show, “I want to say thank you, to you who watched this,” Noah said. “I never dreamed that I would be here. I sort of feel like ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’ I came here for a tour of what the previous show was and then the next thing you know I was handed the keys.”
Based on what Noah says throughout his shocking announcement, it sounds as if he’ll be going back to stand-up comedy again. “I spent two years in my apartment, not on the road, and when I got back out there, I realized there’s another part of my life out there that I want to carry on exploring. I miss learning other languages. I miss going to others and putting on shows,” Noah said.
Of course, like every comedian, Noah got his big start in the realm of stand-up comedy. It’s always possible that there’s a deeper issue that’s keeping Noah from returning to the hosting gig; however, on the out front, there’s nothing that stands out.
When Ellen DeGeneres announced the retirement of her daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, in 2021, it wasn’t a surprise since she was deep in controversy during that time. A damaging Buzz Feed report came out with DeGeneres being accused of mistreatment of staff behind-the-scenes, with some detailing racist comments or experiencing microaggressions. The Daytime Talk show host denied that these rumors were true, though Ellen apologized for the reported toxic environment. As of this writing, there are no such reports about Noah’s show, though it should be noted that the comedian’s political stance is frowned upon by conservatives. Nevertheless, the news came out of the blue for executives at Comedy Central and its parent company, MTV Entertainment, who told Vulture that they learned the information the same time audiences did. Currently, there’s not another host lined up to take Noah’s place nor is there a reported list of who could end up in The Daily Show chair.
The Daily Show has been running since 1996 and has seen three different hosts throughout its time span. Of course, many will know Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah, but Craig Kilborn is the man who started out with the series from the beginning. Stewart had the longest tenure out of the three, taking over in 1999 and leaving the show in August 2015. In total, The Daily Show has won 25 Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, and Outstanding Short Form Variety Series. The show is currently on its 28th season. It should be very interesting who gets the honor of hosting the Comedy Central series. Each host has taken a different perspective on political topics, and the new name would likely do the same in order to separate themselves from previous hosts.
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