Jon Stewart, who turned his biting and free-wheeling humor into an unlikely source of news and analysis for viewers of “The Daily Show,” will leave as host this year, Comedy Central said Tuesday.
His departure was announced by Comedy Central President Michele Ganeless after Stewart, host of the show since 1999, broke the news to the audience at Tuesday’s taping in New York.
“Through his unique voice and vision, ‘The Daily Show’ has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come,” Ganeless said in a statement.
She called Stewart, 52, a “comic genius.” He will remain as host until later this year, she said, but did not specify his exit date or what led to his decision.
Reaction was swift from his admirers.
“Just had the honor of being the great Jon Stewart’s guest (on ‘The Daily Show’), where he announced he’s leaving. Emotional night,” David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama, posted on Twitter.
Stewart’s departure represents a second big blow for Comedy Central: Another star, Stephen Colbert, left “The Colbert Report” last year to take over from CBS late-night host David Letterman when he retires in May.
Larry Wilmore and the new “The Nightly Show” replaced “The Colbert Report.”
The Stewart and Colbert shows created templates for a comedic form that offered laughs along with trenchant political and social satire. Authors and politicians were as common as Hollywood celebrities on the self-described “fake news” programs.
Stewart took a several months-long hiatus in 2013 to direct “Rosewater,” a well-reviewed film about an Iranian-born journalist who was imprisoned for 118 days in Tehran and accused of being a spy. The Comedy Central statement did not indicate what his plans were after leaving.
When he returned from his filmmaking break, Stewart played a tape of President Barack Obama urging military action against Syria because of last month’s poison gas attack.
“America taking military action against a Middle East regime,” Stewart said. “It’s like I never left.”
In 2010, Stewart and Colbert drew a crowd to the Washington Mall for their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. They tackled familiar topics — the partisan gridlock in the nation’s capital and the political talk show culture that encouraged it.
Stewart was credited with effectively killing one cable program — CNN’s “Crossfire” — when his withering criticism of its partisan squabbling hit a nerve. CNN soon cancelled it.
He poked fun at politicians but spent even more time on the media establishment covering them. The most recent example was Monday night, when he tut-tutted NBC’s Brian Williams for being caught misleading the public about the danger faced covering the Iraq War.
Stewart, however, had more withering criticism for the reporters covering Williams, joking that finally the media was criticizing someone for misleading the public during the Iraq War.
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