Copyright Screen Rant
Jon Stewart's future on The Daily Show has finally been revealed amid new ownership at Paramount. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was canceled over the summer and will end in May 2026. Both shows air on Paramount-owned networks, and ever since the shocking Colbert news, speculation mounted about whether Stewart would be axed as well. However, Comedy Central has officially renewed Stewart's Daily Show contract for one year, which runs through December 2026 (his current contract ends in December 2025). The comedian will continue to host on Monday nights, with Daily Show correspondents Desi Lydic, Jordan Klepper, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta and Josh Johnson filling in on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Also, Stewart will remain an executive producer. Stewart began hosting The Daily Show back in 1999, and the show truly became a pop culture touchstone during the 2000 presidential election. When he left, Trevor Noah took over, but the show floundered after the Born a Crime author stunned everyone by announcing his departure in 2022. Multiple guest hosts were brought in to try out for the role, including famous comedians like Chelsea Handler and Leslie Jones. Hasan Minhaj was reportedly close to being chosen, but after accusations about his stand-up routine surfaced, Comedy Central returned to square one, and executives brought Stewart back to host episodes on Monday nights. Questions emerged about whether Colbert and Stewart would remain employed by Paramount amid its merger with Skydance, which would be headed by David Ellison. After Colbert's cancellation (Paramount was accused of caving to political pressure, though the network claims it was purely a financial decision), Stewart spoke out about his disagreements with the company that signs his paychecks, and lashed out at Disney over Jimmy Kimmel's suspension. Disney suspended Kimmel for comments he made about Charlie Kirk's killer. FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened to pull ABC's broadcast license, and Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live from the air. Disney eventually reinstated Kimmel after intense backlash, and the host delivered a passionate pro-free speech monologue upon his return. After Kimmel was temporarily yanked off the air, questions about Stewart's fate multiplied, and it seemed like the future of The Daily Show was truly in doubt. However, positive signs emerged recently, especially when Stewart revealed that he was in negotiations to stay on as host. Also, a couple of weeks ago, Paramount published a press release that bragged about The Daily Show's strong ratings. In September, The Daily Show was nominated for Outstanding Talk Series at the Emmys but lost to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. It earned a total of 12 nominations in 2025, including for Production Design, Directing, Picture Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing. Stewart's contract renewal means he will host Monday nights on The Daily Show for at least one more year. Next fall, speculation about his future with the show will likely spring up all over again. For now, though, fans of The Daily Show can rest assured that their favorite political comedian will be at the helm through the 2026 midterms.
