Jon Stewart to host 'The Daily Show' during Jimmy Kimmel fallout
James Powel“The Daily Show” announced on social media that Jon Stewart will host the Sept. 18 episode, a day after ABC sidelined “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
The ABC late-night show was “pre-empted indefinitely,” following comments Kimmel made on a Sept. 15 episode regarding the fatal shooting of the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and apparent threats against ABC parent company Disney and network affiliates made by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said on a podcast hosted by right-wing commentator Benny Johnson Sept. 17. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Media news outlet Status reported that ABC held a series of emergency meetings to discuss how to respond to Carr’s statement and that during those meetings, Nexstar, the owner of over 30 ABC affiliates, would preempt the show on their stations.
An email from USA TODAY asking Nexstar if Carr contacted Nexstar before the announcement did not receive an immediate response.
Carr claimed in a Sept. 18 appearance on CNBC that Kimmel’s suspension was the result of a “massive shift in dynamics in the media ecosystem,” adding, “we’re not done yet with seeing the consequences of that shift.”
Kimmel sidelining sparks Hollywood backlash
Stewart typically hosts the Monday edition of Comedy Central’s satirical news program, a fact the show’s social media accounts poked fun at, saying, “just don’t tell him (Stewart) it’s Thursday.”
His extra hosting appearance this week comes as a wave of backlash amongst the entertainment industry has erupted in the wake of Kimmel’s sidelining.
“The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other – to disturb, even – is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people,” the Writers’ Guild of America, which represents some of the staff on Kimmel’s show, wrote in a statement to USA TODAY. “It is not to be denied.”
“This is not complicated: Trump’s FCC identified speech it did not like and threatened ABC with extreme reprisals. This is state censorship,” American Federation of Musicians President Tino Gagliardi added in a statement.
Kimmel’s former late-night competitor David Letterman called ABC’s decision “a misery” at a Sept. 18 appearance at The Atlantic Festival. “In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” Letterman said
How to watch Jon Stewart host ‘The Daily Show’
“The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart as host will air on Comedy Central at 11 p.m. ET/10 p.m. CT Sept. 18. CNN media analyst Brian Stelter reported that the guest will be journalist and Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa.
A replay of the episode is scheduled to be available on Paramount+ Sept. 19, according to the show’s social media bio.
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, Brendan Morrow, Anthony Robledo – USA TODAY