All good things come to an end. Trevor Noah will be exiting The Daily Show after hosting the late-night program for seven years. He has just rocked cable news and news itself he’s leaving his gig on Comedy Central.
Trevor made the announcement Thursday, telling the audience his 7-year tenure is coming to an end – and he made the announcement on his 7-year anniversary.
A special message from Trevor Noah pic.twitter.com/lMM8ll51fu
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 30, 2022
The 38-year-old comedian, who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and who immigrated to the United States in 2011, had large shoes to fill when he took over in 2015 following the departure of long-time host Jon Stewart.
Noah had a tough act to follow after Stewart.
“I will say, the first two years were horrible – and it was horrible because I had taken over one of America’s most beloved institutions,” he told Variety in an interview in 2020.
“Even though Jon Stewart had passed over the reins to me, it was essentially a year of people telling me I shouldn’t be doing the job and I was unworthy of being in that seat. And I continued to believe that,” You step into this new role and you’re doing a new job and most of the first year was just trying to stay afloat.”
But Noah found his footing – and millions of fans. His popularity enjoyed a ratings bump after the presidential election of Donald Trump, whom Noah is particularly adept at flaming.
He swiftly built up his own brand, which was appropriate for the time when internet impact frequently outweighed that of cable television material.
Trevor who is worth $100 million, had to sensitively address numerous significant turning points in American history during his tenure on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, including the Covid-19 epidemic, the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2021 assaults on the US Capitol.
Late on Thursday, Noah informed his studio audience, “I spent two years at my apartment (during Covid), not on the road. When I returned to the outside after finishing stand-up, I realised there was another area of my life I wanted to continue investigating.”
On social media, The Daily Show shared a videotape of Noah’s comments. He spoke for five minutes about how “We have laughed and cried together. But I feel like it’s time now after seven years,” he remarked.
As his studio audience rose to their feet in support of him, Noah concluded his speech by thanking his fans. In his remarks on Thursday, Noah, who skewered US officials and the media at the White House Correspondents Association dinner in April, omitted to clarify his precise departure date. Who will succeed him was unknown.
In a 2016 interview, Noah stated that a comedian’s aim is the key to approaching current events via a comic lens, adding that he has also learnt from his failures.
“I don’t think I would ever have been ready,” he remarked of taking over from his illustrious predecessor, “but that’s when you have to do it – you will not be ready.”
“I never dreamed I’d be here,” he said.
“I’m not disappearing – don’t worry. If I owe you money, I’ll still pay you,” Noah quipped.
The program under Noah grabbed its fifth straight Emmy nomination this year for best variety talk series – but it lost to the category’s current powerhouse, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.”
The network issued a statement expressing its gratitude to “Trevor for our amazing partnership over the past seven years. With no timetable for his departure, we’re working together on next steps.”
