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The media mammoth that counts liberal talk-show hosts and frequent Trump critics Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart among it stable of talent added insult to injury by renewing Stewart's contract after viciously dumping Colbert. CBS and Comedy Central owner Paramount confirmed on Monday that it re-upped the longtime Daily Show host's contract through next year, months after CBS announced the cancellation of Late Night with Stephen Colbert. Stewart, whose current contract was set to expire next month, hinted last week at the negotiations during an event with the New Yorker, saying: 'We're working on staying.' The renewal marks the first major move from new Paramount television chief George Cheeks, who made the call over the summer to can Colbert. In contrast to Colbert, whose cancellation was announced in July, Cheeks lobbied hard to keep Stewart, sources told Status. The former network CEO campaigned heavily for the Comedy Central star in conversations with Paramount brass that kicked off in early October. The two sides reached an agreement late last week, sources told Status. Meanwhile, Colbert griped about his firing in a recent interview with GQ, saying: 'I think we’re the first number one show to ever get cancelled.' Colbert also acknowledged that he only got word of his firing from his manager rather than network brass. 'Listen, every show's got to end at some time,' Colbert told GQ. 'And I’ve been on a bunch of shows that have ended sometimes by our lights and sometimes by the decision of other people. That’s just the nature of show business. You can’t worry about that. You got to be a big boy about that. But I think we’re the first number one show to ever get cancelled.' The deal reached with Stewart, 62, will him stay on as host of The Daily Show until December 2026. 'The renewal is a win for audiences, for Comedy Central and for all our programming partners,' Ari Pearce, the head of Comedy Central, said in a statement Monday. Stewart gave his team the news personally earlier in the day, sources told Status. In July, contract talks surrounding Comedy Central's other prime asset, South Park, were settled in deal valued at around $1.5billion. Days before, CBS had announced it was cancelling the Late Show after ten years. Cheeks, who was then CEO of CBS and co-CEO of Paramount, made the decision, Puck reported. The company said it was made solely for financial reasons. Later that month, Paramount went on to seal its $8.4billion merger with Skydance, leading to claims Colbert was canned in capitulation to the Trump administration, which had to approve the deal. Stewart's Daily Show originally aired alongside Colbert's Colbert Report in the 2000s. In July, Stewart said Colbert 'exceed[ed] all expectations' after leaving Comedy Central for late night.
