Trevor Noah Reveals The Real Reason Jon Stewart Left 'The Daily Show'

Ed Mazza

“Daily Show” host Trevor Noah recently opened about about what previous host Jon Stewart told him when it was announced in 2015 he would be leaving after more than 15 years.

“I walked into his office and I said, ’Hey, what’s going on? Are you being pushed out? What’s happening? You need my help, let me know, man. We’ll fight,” Noah recalled at a panel discussion earlier this month.

But Stewart wasn’t being pushed out. He was leaving:

“He said ‘I’m leaving because I’m tired.’ And he said, ‘I’m tired of being angry.’ And he said, ’I’m angry all the time. I don’t find any of this funny. I do not know how to make it funny right now, and I don’t think the host of the show, I don’t think the show deserves a host who does not feel that it is funny.”

Noah said Stewart urged him to “relish the fact that you can make jokes about these things, because there will come a day when you are too angry to laugh. But don’t rush to get there.”

Stewart has publicly addressed his departure several times, and the toll of the job was apparent.

He told The Guardian in 2015 that he wasn’t getting the same satisfaction.

“These things are cyclical. You have moments of dissatisfaction, and then you come out of it and it’s OK,” he said. “But the cycles become longer and maybe more entrenched, and that’s when you realize, ‘OK, I’m on the back side of it now.’”

He also spoke about watching networks such as Fox News in search of content for the show.

“Watching these channels all day is incredibly depressing,” Stewart said. “I live in a constant state of depression. I think of us as turd miners. I put on my helmet, I go and mine turds. Hopefully I don’t get turd lung disease.”

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Jon Stewart's grandfather was born in Inner Mongolia.

<p>Jon Stewart's grandfather Nathan Laskin&nbsp;was born in Mongolia in 1906 and was later raised in&nbsp;Tientstin, China, which was home to a well-developed, albeit small, Jewish community.</p>

Jon Stewart's grandfather Nathan Laskin was born in Mongolia in 1906 and was later raised in Tientstin, China, which was home to a well-developed, albeit small, Jewish community.

Jon Stewart's first TV appearance was on a children's TV show in 1971.

<p>Stewart was&nbsp;9 years old when he and his school band had&nbsp;a guest spot on a popular children's TV show "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark." (He played trumpet.)</p>

Stewart was 9 years old when he and his school band had a guest spot on a popular children's TV show "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark." (He played trumpet.)

Jon Stewart actually worked at Comedy Central before it was Comedy Central.

<p>Around 1990, Stewart was hired to write for a show called "The Sweet Life," which ran on HBO's Comedy Channel. That cable channel would later transform into what is now Comedy Central.</p>

Around 1990, Stewart was hired to write for a show called "The Sweet Life," which ran on HBO's Comedy Channel. That cable channel would later transform into what is now Comedy Central.

Jon Stewart met his wife Tracey on a blind date, which was a first for both of them.

<p>One of Tracey's friends fixed her and Stewart up and the two met at a Mexican restaurant. Tracey was so over the dating scene at this point that she almost didn't go.</p>

One of Tracey's friends fixed her and Stewart up and the two met at a Mexican restaurant. Tracey was so over the dating scene at this point that she almost didn't go.

Jon Stewart proposed to Tracey through a New York Times crossword.

<p>Stewart enlisted the help of New York Times&nbsp;puzzle editor Will Shortz to add marriage proposal clues to the paper's infamously difficult crossword. Many of the puzzle's&nbsp;clues&nbsp;had&nbsp;special meaning specifically for Tracey.&nbsp;</p>

Stewart enlisted the help of New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz to add marriage proposal clues to the paper's infamously difficult crossword. Many of the puzzle's clues had special meaning specifically for Tracey. 

Jon Stewart turned Stephen Colbert onto political satire.

<p>"I didn't enjoy political humor until I started working with Jon," says Stephen Colbert. "And then I found I had a stronger [political point of view] than I imagined."</p>

"I didn't enjoy political humor until I started working with Jon," says Stephen Colbert. "And then I found I had a stronger [political point of view] than I imagined."

Jon Stewart may come back to the show... as a CORRESPONDENT.

When asked about his successor, Trevor Noah, Stewart said, "He's a tremendous comic and talent that we've loved working with." Stewart then added that he "may rejoin as a correspondent just to be a part of it!!!"
When asked about his successor, Trevor Noah, Stewart said, "He's a tremendous comic and talent that we've loved working with." Stewart then added that he "may rejoin as a correspondent just to be a part of it!!!"

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.