Jon STEWART stirs backlash after siding with Scott Pelley to BLAST the administration—Daily Show fans stunned as CBS-style tension brews behind the scenes and threatens to rewrite comedy politics

In a move few expected, Jon Stewart has aligned himself with veteran journalist Scott Pelley, publicly backing his criticisms of the current administration—and it’s turning heads fast. The once beloved Daily Show host is now under fire, as fans and critics alike debate whether Stewart’s stance is courageous or calculated. Is this a return to his hard-hitting roots, or a reckless leap into controversy? And with whispers of CBS’s “60 Minutes” approach influencing The Daily Show’s tone, is a major format shift looming?

Click to uncover the rift that’s dividing viewers and reshaping late-night political satire.

‘The Daily Show’ host would very much like to keep working one day a week

Jon Stewart, in some kind of reverse Garfield situation, seems to really love Mondays. The Daily Show veteran returned to the satirical news program last year, but on the condition that he only host the show on the first day of the week. This has allowed the rest of the Daily Show cast to divvy up the remaining episodes, kind of like if the news desk were a Boca Raton time-share.

While it initially seemed as though Stewart’s arrangement would only last until the end of the 2024 election season, he later extended his deal to continue hosting The Daily Show “through 2025.” And now it seems as though he wants to stay on even longer than that.

Stewart recently guested on The Bill Simmons podcast, and chatted about his 2015 departure from The Daily Show, which was partially inspired by “the relentlessness of the news cycle and the redundancy of the news cycle,” in addition to the fact that Stewart wanted to spend more time with his family. “I sort of got to a point where I didn’t know how to creatively elevate the show anymore,” the Death to Smoochy star explained. “I just didn’t feel like I had the ability to do that. And I felt myself checking out to the extent that it wasn’t fair. You shouldn’t just stay in a place because you can, because they’ll let you. You don’t want to just coast.”

When Simmons suggested that the newly invigorated Stewart could add a second episode to his weekly routine, say, on Thursdays, the comedian vehemently opposed the idea. “Woah, don’t add — no, no, no, no, no,” Stewart interjected. But he did imply that his current schedule could go on indefinitely. “I’m in a spot now where I could do Monday, until the company is bought out by people who don’t want anything to do with The Daily Show and then who the fuck knows what’s going to happen? I mean look what they’re doing to 60 Minutes and CBS News and everything.”

Stewart is, of course, referring to the fact that 60 Minutes staff are currently protesting their parent company’s attempts to “supervise” news content, allegedly in order to placate the Trump administration and guarantee the completion of a corporate merger that requires federal approval. Host Scott Pelley outlined the drama on the air last month, in what ended up being the second-most damning TV show about the Paramount that night.

Since The Daily Show’s home, Comedy Central, is also owned by Paramount, even if Stewart is willing to stick around, there’s a non-zero chance that he’ll simply be fired and replaced with Scott Baio.