Roy Wood Jr. Confirms Hasan Minhaj Was Set To Be ‘Daily Show’ Host
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Roy Wood Jr. said Hasan Minhaj was set to become The Daily Show host before everything “fell apart.” During an interview with comedian Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out podcast, Wood talked about the show finding its host. Roy stated that Minhaj was supposed to be the guy before he did his infamous interview with The New Yorker. From that moment, the opportunity dissolved quickly. However, the political comic detailed that he planned to stay on The Daily Show under Hasan with no issue.
“That’s literally why everything fell apart,” Wood said. “As far as I was told, Hasan was going to be the guy… We’ll see what Hasan wants to do, what his vision is, whether I fit in that. I’m still trying to sell my own sitcom, trying to write movies, there’s other sh*t I wanna do, but let’s see.“
“The New Yorker article comes out, and then the buzz is there’s a shift at Comedy Central in whether or not Hasan is still going to be the guy, which eventually turned into he’s not going to be the guy.”
In August 2023, Variety reported that the California native was going to be the man to take over the show. Comedy Central had been looking for the next person after Trevor Noah walked away. But after Hasan received backlash for admitting that he embellished some of his jokes, Comedy Central went in another direction.
In October 2023, the No Hard Feelings actor issued a statement responding to the publication’s story about him. He called the exposé “needlessly misleading” and attempted to clarify what happened.
“I just want to say to anyone who felt betrayed or hurt by my stand-up, I am sorry,” he said in his YouTube video. “I made artistic choices to express myself and drive home larger issues affecting me and my community, and I feel horrible that I let people down.
“The reason I feel horrible is because I’m not a psycho. But this New Yorker article definitely made me look like one. It was so needlessly misleading, not just about my stand-up, but also about me as a person. The truth is, racism, FBI surveillance and the threats to my family happened. And I said this on the record.”
The Daily Show is still moving forward without a permanent host. Comedy Central recently named Jon Stewart as a temporary host. However, the network stated that he would only be hosting on Monday nights throughout the 2024 election season. The show will still rely on guest hosts.
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