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Jon Stewart gives update on hosting ‘The Daily Show’ amid ongoing contract discussions: ‘We're working...’

Jon Stewart returned to 'The Daily Show' in January 2024, years after stepping away from his hosting role in 2015

Fans were in for a ride when Jon Stewart made a comeback on 'The Daily Show.' The star who left the show in 2015 after 16 long years returned in early 2024, replacing Trevor Noah. However, it looks like Stewart is vying for a permanent hosting gig on the show. As per reports, Stewart's contract is ending in December. However, before that, the host shared that negotiations are still in progress regarding his return as host. 

During a talk at the New Yorker Festival, Stewart told editor David Remnick that he's "working on staying" at 'The Daily Show' when asked if he planned to "sign another" deal, confirming that he wants to keep hosting, as per Rolling Stone.  When asked by Remnick if he wanted to continue hosting the show, Stewart confirmed that he did. Following his return, Stewart hosted Monday-night episodes. Initially, Stewart said he would stay on through December 2024, but that was before two major changes, Donald Trump's return to the presidency and the Paramount–Skydance merger, after which he jokingly referred to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison as his "new boss."

On a lighter note, Jimmy Kimmel recently revealed a hilarious anecdote on Ted Danson's 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name' podcast about how he almost lost his ABC late-night hosting job to Stewart, as per Variety. In the early 2000s, while Stewart was a few years into hosting 'The Daily Show,' ABC was searching for a replacement for Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, which had aired on the network since 1997. 

Kimmel explained how close Stewart came to getting his late-night slot on ABC, saying, "They wanted a traditional late-night talk show in that slot." He recalled, "Jon and I have the same manager, James 'Baby Doll' Dixon, and James was about to close this deal for Jon to host the show… [ABC chairman Lloyd Braun] watched my tape, and he was like, 'I think this might be the guy.' And he brought the tape to Bob Iger, and Iger said, 'Yeah, I think this might be the guy.'"  

Kimmel added that it was an awkward situation for their shared manager, explaining, "It was a very strange thing because [James] was in the difficult position of having to tell Jon, 'Uh, you're not going to ABC, but Jimmy is going to ABC.'" At the time, Stewart was already a well-established late-night star thanks to 'The Daily Show,' while Kimmel was relatively unproven, known mainly for hosting Comedy Central's 'The Man Show.' Recalling it, Kimmel joked, "That was a mistake, by the way. They definitely should hire Jon. If I'm in that position, there's no question I hire Jon 100 times out of 100."