Rise to Fame
Taking over The Daily Show from Craig Kilborn in 1999 was supposed to be a lateral move. It wasn't. His 'Indecision 2000' election coverage rivaled cable news among younger viewers, and the 18-34 demographic treated him as a primary news source without anyone officially deciding that was happening. The 2004 Crossfire appearance, where he accused the hosts of 'partisan hackery' on live TV, contributed to CNN canceling it entirely. By the time he won his tenth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series in 2012, the show had launched Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and Lewis Black and become something that didn't really have a category.
In the Spotlight
The return to The Daily Show in February 2024 looked like nostalgia TV at first. It wasn't. Within months he'd brought the show to its highest ratings since 2018, averaging over a million viewers a week, and won another Emmy in the same category he'd dominated from 2003 to 2012. Then Paramount got acquired by Skydance, and reports surfaced that executives were scrutinizing liberal-leaning hosts including Stewart over their Trump coverage. He publicly wavered in July 2025 after CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, then quietly signed a third straight one-year extension through December 2026. The message: he'll stay as long as he can do it on his terms.
Side Notes
The most consequential thing he did outside The Daily Show wasn't a segment. For years, Stewart testified before Congress to push for 9/11 first responders' healthcare, helping pass the permanent Never Forget the Heroes Act in 2019. He was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz and dropped the surname because it 'sounded too Hollywood.' He runs a farm animal sanctuary in New Jersey, does the NYT crossword nightly with his wife, and once won $125,000 for Alzheimer's research on celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.