Jon Stewart left ‘The Daily Show’ because he stopped finding things funny, says Trevor Noah
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah recently opened up about the departure of previous host Jon Stewart who announced in 2015 that he was leaving the show after more than 15 years.
"I walked into his office and I said, 'Hey what’s going on? Are you being pushed out? What’s happening? You need my help, let me know, man. We’ll fight,'" Noah recalled at a panel discussion they had earlier this month.
But Stewart clarified that he wasn’t being pushed out and that leaving the show was his decision.
He said, “I’m leaving because I’m tired. I’m tired of being angry.” He also said, “I’m angry all the time. I don’t find any of this funny. I do not know how to make it funny right now, and I don’t think the show deserves a host who does not feel it is funny.”
Noah did all he can to urge Stewart to stay and told him to "relish the fact that you can make jokes about these things because there will come a day when you are too angry to laugh, but don’t rush to get there."
Stewart had publicly announced his departure quite a few times before and it was quite apparent that the job was taking a toll on him.
He told The Guardian in 2015 that he was not satisfied the same way he used to be earlier.
"These things are cyclical. You have moments of dissatisfaction and then you come out of it and it’s OK,” he said. “But the cycles become longer and maybe more entrenched,” and that’s when you realize, ‘OK, I’m on the back side of it now.'"
According to Huffington Post, he also spoke about watching networks such as Fox News in search of content for the show. “Watching these channels all day is incredibly depressing,” Stewart said. "I live in a constant state of depression. I think of us as turd miners. I put on my helmet, I go and mine turds. Hopefully, I don’t get turd lung disease."
Stewart's departure from the satirical news show after 15 years had left liberal America in mourning. There was no one moment when Jon Stewart knew it was time for him to leave what he once called as “the most perfect job in the world”. He told The Guardian, "Life doesn’t really work that way, with a finger pointing at you out of the sky, saying, 'Leave now!' That only happens when you’re fired and, trust me, I know about that."