when did jon stewart leave the daily show

WHEN DID JON STEWART LEAVE THE DAILY SHOW FOR FREE
WHEN DID JON STEWART LEAVE THE DAILY SHOW PROFESSIONAL

WHEN DID JON STEWART LEAVE THE DAILY SHOW FOR FREE

Death for free speech is a deal breaker,” Stewart said.Ĭolbert added that at the time, Yusuf was scheduled to be a guest on upcoming episodes of both the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have done it. And that he actually still – and it broke my heart a little bit. “We get into a whole conversation, and it becomes very clear to me that he is straddling two worlds in a very difficult way. Stewart called Yusuf, who characterized backing the fatwa as a “misunderstanding”, but immediately tempered that with “although why do you have to insult the Prophet?” “I said, ‘look, I’m sorry you’re upset, but I’m sure the guy isn’t really like that. “So I’m like, I’m sure he doesn’t believe that people should be put to death for apostasy,” Stewart recalled. Stewart said that he didn’t know about Yusuf’s comments at the time. He said he did receive a phone call from Rushdie after the Rally, expressing his disappointment that they used a performer “who wanted to kill me.” On Friday night, Stewart relayed the exchange from his perspective. He said he was sorry it upset me, but really, it was plain that he was fine with it. After the Rally, Rushdie told Standpoint Magazine that “I spoke to Jon Stewart about Yusuf Islam’s appearance. In 1989, Yusuf publicly condoned the fatwa against Rushdie after the publication of his book The Satanic Verses. The bit featured Stewart, Colbert, Yusuf, Ozzy Osborne, and The O’Jays engaging in a battle of train-themed songs. “I had to be talked down from a moderately high cliff,” Stewart said.Īccording to Stewart, it took about two and a half years for the “natural winnowing process” to leave him with a fully supportive staff.Īnother notable insight related to Salman Rushdie’s criticism of Stewart for including Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) in the Rally to Restore Sanity festivities in 2010. “How close were you to saying that was it, you weren’t going to do it anymore?,” Colbert asked. He immediately phoned his agent, James Dixon, telling him to “get me the fuck out of this.

And then I was told not to change the jokes or improvise,” he said. “I walk in the door, into a room with the writers and producers, and the first thing they say is ‘this isn’t some MTV bullshit’…. When he met with the writing staff the month prior to taking over the show, he says he “got the impression that that had been discussed,” and he was met with strong resistance. I wanted it to be satirical in the classic sense of the word, not the Spy magazine sense of the word where you just add adjectives like ‘pepperpot’,” he said. “I had, before taking, some conversations with the powers that be there about the direction I thought we could move the show…. “What I did not realize is, a lot of the people who worked there were assholes,” Stewart recalled. But that change almost didn’t happen, and Stewart nearly backed out of the gig altogether. It’s widely known that Stewart executed a shift in the Daily Show’s voice when he took over from Craig Kilborn in 1999, changing from a local news magazine format to the issue-driven satire it is today.

WHEN DID JON STEWART LEAVE THE DAILY SHOW PROFESSIONAL

And despite their 14-year professional relationship, each brought forth stories that surprised both each other and the sold-out audience. While the two have discussed their work onstage together before, this was their first lengthy public one-on-one. Late night satire’s biggest secrets were revealed live on stage in Montclair, NJ Friday night as Stephen Colbert interviewed Jon Stewart at the Wellmont Theatre, a fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival.

When did jon stewart leave the daily show