How Jon Stewart built a successful career. Explore key moments that defined the journey.
Jon Stewart is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host, best known for hosting 'The Daily Show' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2015 and part-time since 2024. His satirical commentary on news and politics has garnered him widespread recognition and influence. He also hosted 'The Problem with Jon Stewart' on Apple TV+ from 2021 to 2023. Stewart's work has earned him numerous awards, including 24 Primetime Emmy Awards, 2 Grammy Awards, 5 Peabody Awards, the Bronze Medallion in 2019, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2022, solidifying his status as a significant figure in American comedy and political commentary.
In 1986, Jon Stewart moved back to New York City to pursue a career in comedy.
In 1989, Jon Stewart landed his first television job as a writer for Caroline's Comedy Hour.
In 1990, Jon Stewart began co-hosting Comedy Central's "Short Attention Span Theater" with Patty Rosborough.
On March 6, 1992, Jon Stewart appeared on NBC's "Late Night with David Letterman", which he credits as the start of his career.
In 1992, Jon Stewart hosted "You Wrote It, You Watch It" on MTV.
In 1993, Jon Stewart developed "The Jon Stewart Show", a talk show on MTV.
In 1994, after "The Arsenio Hall Show" was canceled, an hour-long syndicated late-night version of "The Jon Stewart Show" was launched.
In June 1995, "The Jon Stewart Show" was canceled due to dismal ratings.
In 1995, "The Jon Stewart Show" was retooled, dropped by MTV, and moved to syndication.
In 1995, Jon Stewart signed a three-year deal with Miramax.
On October 6, 1996, "Where's Elvis This Week?", a half-hour, weekly comedy television program hosted by Jon Stewart, premiered in the UK on BBC Two.
In 1996, it was Jon Stewart's last stand-up special before the announcement from HBO in 2017 that he would produce a new one. However, this special ultimately did not air.
In 1997, Jon Stewart was chosen as the host and interviewer for George Carlin's tenth HBO special, "George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy."
In 1998, Jon Stewart hosted the television special, "Elmopalooza", and released his first book, "Naked Pictures of Famous People".
On January 11, 1999, Jon Stewart made his first Daily Show on-air appearance, telling his guest Michael J. Fox that he felt as if "this is my bar mitzvah".
In 1999, Jon Stewart became the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
In 2000, Jon Stewart and other members of The Daily Show received a Peabody Award for "Indecision 2000", covering the 2000 presidential election.
In 2001, Jon Stewart hosted the Grammy Awards for the first time.
In 2001, The Daily Show received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program.
In 2002, Jon Stewart appeared in the film "Death to Smoochy."
In 2002, Jon Stewart hosted the Grammy Awards for the second time.
In 2002, Jon Stewart's production company, Busboy Productions, planned to produce a sitcom for NBC starring Stephen Colbert, but the show did not come to fruition.
In late 2002, ABC offered Jon Stewart his own talk show to air after Nightline. Stewart was interested, but ABC chose Jimmy Kimmel instead.
In mid-2002, amidst rumors that David Letterman might switch from CBS to ABC, Jon Stewart was rumored to be a potential replacement for Letterman on CBS. However, Letterman ultimately renewed his contract with CBS.
In 2003, The Daily Show won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
In 2004, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show writing staff released "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction", a satirical textbook that became a top-fifteen best seller that year. He also delivered the commencement address at the College of William & Mary.
In 2004, Jon Stewart and other members of The Daily Show received a Peabody Award for "Indecision 2004", covering the 2004 presidential election.
In 2004, Jon Stewart spoke at the commencement ceremonies at his alma mater, William & Mary, and received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree. He was also the Class Day keynote speaker at Princeton University in 2004.
In 2004, The Daily Show won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
In 2005, Comedy Central and Jon Stewart's Busboy Productions reached an agreement in which Comedy Central would provide financial backing for the production company.
In 2005, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show received the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.
In 2005, Jon Stewart became the executive producer of "The Colbert Report".
In 2005, Jon Stewart voiced President James A. Garfield for the audiobook version of Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation".
In 2005, The Daily Show won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. In 2005, Stewart won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his recording, America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction.
On March 5, 2006, Jon Stewart hosted the 78th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Critical reception to his performance was mixed.
On April 4, 2006, Jon Stewart confronted US Senator John McCain on The Daily Show about his decision to appear at Liberty University, an institution founded by Jerry Falwell, whom McCain had previously denounced.
In 2006, The Daily Show received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
In 2007, Jon Stewart made a cameo appearance as himself in Evan Almighty, which starred former Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell.
In 2007, Jon Stewart supported the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. On The Daily Show episode just before the strike, he sarcastically commented about how Comedy Central had made available all episodes for free on their website, but without advertising, and said, "go support our advertisers".
In 2007, Jon Stewart voiced Mort Sinclaire, a former TV comedy writer and communist, on Stephen Colbert's audiobook version of "I Am America (And So Can You!)".
In 2007, Sean Hannity supported Ted Nugent's violent rhetoric toward Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
In 2007, The Daily Show was involved in former correspondent Stephen Colbert's announcement that he would run for president in 2008.
The Writers Guild Strike of 2007–2008 triggered a notable mock feud between Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O'Brien . Without writers to help fuel their banter, the three comedians concocted a crossover/rivalry to garner more viewers during the ratings slump.
On January 7, 2008, upon Jon Stewart's return to the show following the start of the Writers Guild of America strike, he refused to use the title, The Daily Show, stating that The Daily Show was the show made with all of the people responsible for the broadcast, including his writers. During the strike, he referred to his show as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
On February 13, 2008, the Writer's Strike ended and the title, The Daily Show, was restored to Jon Stewart's show.
On February 24, 2008, Jon Stewart hosted the 80th Academy Awards. The reception to his performance was more positive than when he hosted in 2006.
In 2008, Jon Stewart appeared on the news program Democracy Now!. A New York Times story questioned whether he was, "the most trusted man in America".
In 2008, Jon Stewart was the Sacerdote Great Names speaker at Hamilton College.
In 2008, according to Forbes, Jon Stewart was earning $14 million a year.
In early 2008, a three-part comedic battle among Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien resulted in all three appearing on each other's shows, ending on Late Night with Conan O'Brien with a mock brawl involving the three hosts.
In March 2009, Jon Stewart criticized a White House proposal to remove veterans from Veterans Administration rolls if they had private health insurance, leading to the White House dropping the plan the next day.
In November 2009, Jon Stewart criticized Fox News for using footage from a previous Tea Party rally during a report on a more recent rally, which made the latter event appear more highly attended than it actually was. The show's anchor, Sean Hannity, apologized for the footage use the following night.
In 2009, The Daily Show received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
In March 2010, Jon Stewart announced that he had optioned the rights to the story of journalist Maziar Bahari, who was imprisoned in Iran for 118 days.
In April 2010, Comedy Central renewed Jon Stewart's contract to host The Daily Show into 2013.
On September 16, 2010, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced a rally for October 30, known as the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, to take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
In December 2010, Jon Stewart was credited by the White House and media for bringing awareness to the Republican filibuster on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, leading to its passing.
In 2010, Jon Stewart intensified his criticism of Fox News, dedicating 24 segments of The Daily Show to the network's coverage within a five-month period. Bill O'Reilly from Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, responded by labeling The Daily Show as a "key component of left-wing television".
In 2010, Jon Stewart interviewed a panel of four 9/11 first responders—Kenny Specht, Chris Bowman, Ken George and Kevin Devlin—on The Daily Show, discussing their health problems.
In 2010, Sean Hannity criticized Jon Stewart for associating himself with Cat Stevens during his Rally.
On June 6, 2011, Jon Stewart hosted Maziar Bahari on The Daily Show.
In June 2011, The Daily Show ran a bit about Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain that made writer Wyatt Cenac uncomfortable, which he acknowledged to Jon Stewart. (reported in July 2015)
On June 19, 2011, during an interview with Chris Wallace, Jon Stewart called Wallace "insane" for interpreting Stewart's comparison of a Sarah Palin campaign video and an anti-herpes medicine ad as a political statement. Stewart also claimed that Fox News viewers were the "most consistently misinformed", a statement later fact-checked and deemed false with conditions. Stewart later acknowledged his error.
In October 2011, Jon Stewart met with President Obama at the White House. It was a previously unreported meeting with President Obama.
In 2011, The Daily Show received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
In March 2012, Jon Stewart interviewed Bruce Springsteen for Rolling Stone.
In 2012, The Daily Show received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series.
In March 2013, Jon Stewart announced that he was leaving The Daily Show for 12 weeks to direct the film version of Maziar Bahari's 2011 book, Then They Came For Me. Stewart's screenplay adaptation is entitled, Rosewater.
In March 2013, Jon Stewart took a 12-week hiatus from The Daily Show to direct the film "Rosewater", based on the book "Then They Came for Me" by Maziar Bahari.
Beginning June 10, 2013, John Oliver assumed primary hosting duties for The Daily Show during Jon Stewart's break.
During the summer of 2013, John Oliver filled in as host of The Daily Show for a period, while Jon Stewart was away.
In 2013, Jon Stewart and his wife bought a 12-acre (4.9 ha) farm in Middletown, New Jersey, called "Bufflehead Farm", which they operate as a sanctuary for abused animals.
In 2013, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series went to The Daily Show spin-off The Colbert Report.
In April 2010, Comedy Central renewed Jon Stewart's contract to host The Daily Show into 2013.
In February 2014, Jon Stewart met with President Obama at the White House. It was a previously unreported meeting with President Obama.
On July 14, 2014, Jon Stewart interviewed Hillary Clinton on The Daily Show about the Middle East. He questioned her condemnations of Hamas and their resistance in Gaza.
In late August 2014, Jon Stewart criticized Fox News for its portrayal of the events surrounding the shooting of teenager Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, and the subsequent protests.
In September 2014, the film Rosewater, directed by Jon Stewart, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, receiving "generally favorable" reviews.
On November 14, 2014, Jon Stewart's film Rosewater was released to general audiences.
In 2014, Jon Stewart ceased being the executive producer of "The Colbert Report".
On February 10, 2015, Jon Stewart announced during a taping of The Daily Show that he was leaving the show. Comedy Central confirmed Stewart's retirement.
In March 2015, Jon Stewart began a comedic feud with WWE wrestler Seth Rollins and appeared on WWE Raw during a Daily Show-styled segment hosted by Rollins.
On April 20, 2015, Jon Stewart indicated that his final show as host of The Daily Show would be on August 6, 2015.
On July 28, 2015, it was reported that Jon Stewart had been at the White House for previously unreported meetings with President Obama twice: once in October 2011 and once in February 2014.
On August 5, 2015, comedian Louis C.K., a friend of Jon Stewart for 30 years, was selected to be the last guest before the final Daily Show episode with Stewart helming the show.
On April 20, 2015, Jon Stewart indicated that his final show as host of The Daily Show would be on August 6, 2015.
On August 23, 2015, Jon Stewart hosted WWE's SummerSlam and interfered in the main event between Seth Rollins and John Cena, helping Rollins retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship and win Cena's United States Championship by hitting Cena with a steel chair.
In November 2015, Jon Stewart signed a four-year deal with HBO to create exclusive digital content for HBO NOW, HBO Go, and other platforms. The project involved an animated parody of a cable news network, similar to The Onion.
In 2015, Jon Stewart became the executive producer of "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" and also began executive producing "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert".
In 2015, Jon Stewart ended his run as the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
In 2015, The Daily Show received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program and Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series for Stewart's last show as host.
In 2015, Trevor Noah permanently took over hosting duties for The Daily Show, succeeding Jon Stewart who had hosted almost all airings until then.
In 2015, four months after leaving The Daily Show, Jon Stewart returned to reunite the four 9/11 first responders, with only Kenny Specht healthy enough to attend. Kevin Devlin had died, and Chris Bowman and Ken George were too ill to make it to the show.
Shortly before Jon Stewart left the Daily Show in 2015, a compilation played of Stewart's jokes about the New York Mets team during his time on the show.
On August 21, 2016, Jon Stewart returned to SummerSlam as a special guest.
In 2016, Jon Stewart ceased being the executive producer of "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore".
In 2016, Jon Stewart received a Peabody Award for his tenure at The Daily Show.
In 2016, the premiere of Jon Stewart's HBO animated parody project was delayed multiple times, from fall 2016 to the first quarter of 2017.
On May 23, 2017, HBO cancelled Jon Stewart's short-form digital animated project due to technical issues in production and distribution, despite initially having great potential. HBO announced future projects with Stewart.
In July 2017, HBO announced that Jon Stewart would produce a stand-up comedy special for the network, marking his first stand-up special since 1996; however, the special never aired.
In 2018, Jon Stewart and Dave Chappelle collaborated for a duo comedy tour that spanned across the United States and the United Kingdom. Stewart also performed standup at the 13th Annual Standup for Heroes event.
In June 2019, Jon Stewart went to Congress to oppose the $7.375 billion limit in pay-outs to 9/11 first responders through December 2020 and to lobby for permanent funding for the Victims Compensation Fund past December 2020, delivering a tearful testimony.
On July 12, 2019, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund with a vote of 402–12.
On December 16, 2019, Jon Stewart was one of eighteen individuals and organizations awarded the Bronze Medallion for his advocacy on behalf of 9/11 victims and families. The Bronze Medallion is the highest award conferred upon civilians by New York City.
In 2019, Jon Stewart received the New York City Bronze Medallion for his advocacy for 9/11 first responders.
In June 2020, 'Irresistible', a political satire directed by Jon Stewart, was released. The film stars Steve Carell as a Democratic strategist and Chris Cooper as a retired veteran running for mayor.
In June 2019, Jon Stewart testified before Congress to oppose the $7.375 billion limit in pay-outs to 9/11 first responders through December 2020 and to lobby for permanent funding for the Victims Compensation Fund past December 2020.
On September 30, 2021, 'The Problem with Jon Stewart' premiered on Apple TV+. The series featured hour-long episodes focused on single subjects, with Stewart as both host and executive producer through his company, Busboy Productions.
In 2021, Jon Stewart began hosting "The Problem with Jon Stewart" on Apple TV+.
On March 3, 2022, The House of Representatives passed the bill Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021 (PACT Act) by 256–174.
On April 24, 2022, Jon Stewart was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for his lifelong contribution to the world of comedy.
On June 16, 2022, The Senate passed the bill Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021 (PACT Act) by 84–14.
On July 28, 2022, Jon Stewart held a press conference on Capitol Hill regarding the PACT Act.
On August 2, 2022, the PACT Act passed in a bipartisan measure, 84 to 11. Jon Stewart was praised for lending his voice and celebrity to the issue and is credited as being an essential actor in getting the bill passed.
In 2022, Jon Stewart was instrumental in helping pass the Honoring our PACT Act, which expands healthcare access and funding to veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service.
In 2023, Jon Stewart concluded his hosting of "The Problem with Jon Stewart" on Apple TV+.
In 2023, Jon Stewart performed at the Netflix is a Joke comedy festival in Los Angeles.
In January 2024, it was confirmed that Jon Stewart would return to The Daily Show as the weekly Monday guest host starting February 12, 2024. He also became an executive producer for all episodes through 2025.
On February 12, 2024, Jon Stewart started his role as the weekly Monday guest host on The Daily Show.
In February 2024, Jon Stewart returned to "The Daily Show" for Monday episodes and as an executive producer.
In May 2024, it was announced that Jon Stewart would also begin hosting 'The Weekly Show', an original podcast from Comedy Central. Additionally, Stewart and The Daily Show team won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Talk Series.
In 2024, Jon Stewart returned to The Daily Show part-time.
In 2025, Jon Stewart extended his contract by one year to remain host of The Daily Show until the end of 2026.
In 2026, Jon Stewart continued to host The Daily Show, having extended his contract the previous year.
In July 2019, a bill passed to fund health care for 9/11 victims and first responders through 2092, virtually funding health care for 9/11 victims and first responders for life.
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