Jon Stewart was among a handful of comedians who Hasan Minhaj spoke to after all this went down, with others including Mike Birbiglia, Ray Youssef and John Mulaney. Here’s what he had to say about his phone call with Stewart:

Minhaj shared that his other comedian friends and mentors, including Ramy Youssef, Mike Birbiglia, John Mulaney, and even former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, reached out to him in the aftermath. He recalled spending hours on the phone with them. “I remember Jon called, and he said, ‘Why the f--- are they doing this? And who does this benefit?'"

Hasan Minhaj is looking back at the gig that almost was. In an interview with Esquire published Wednesday, the comedian reflected on once being the front-runner to succeed Trevor Noah as the host of The Daily Show.

Stewart hosted the Comedy Central series starting in 1999. When he left, Trevor Noah took the the helm and led the show until the end of 2022, after which “The Daily Show” had a series of guest hosts, including Jersey’s own Kal Penn. When the show won the 2023 Emmy for outstanding talk series in January, Noah and the cast accepted the award.

Minhaj’s talent agency, WME, declined to comment to Variety on the matter, as did Comedy Central. Minhaj initially came under fire after The New Yorker published an article Sept

Former Patriot Act host Hasan Minhaj revealed to Esquire the advice Jon Stewart gave him following a 2023 New Yorker profile which Hasan blasted as “needlessly misleading.” Stewart famously hosted The Daily Show from 1999 until 2015 before Trevor Noah took the reins.

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