Jon Stewart announces retirement from "The Daily Show"
In a surprise move, Jon Stewart has announced that he's retiring as anchor of "The Daily Show."
Stewart broke the news to his audience while taping Comedy Central's satirical news program Tuesday. Shortly after, as the announcement started making waves on social media, the network sent a tweet confirming it:
Thank you Jon. pic.twitter.com/yPdxjnkuLw
— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) February 10, 2015
Stewart has anchored "The Daily Show" since 1999. Since taking control of the anchor desk, the show has won 19 Emmy awards and averages about a million viewers each night.
Stewart has hosted the Academy Awards twice, in 2006 and 2008. He published a book of essays, "Naked Pictures of Famous People," in 1999 and collaborated with the "Daily Show staff on two bestsellers, 2004's "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" and "Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race" in 2010.
Stewart took a hiatus from "The Daily Show" in 2013 while directing his first feature film, "Rosewater."
His retirement follows that of Stephen Colbert, who ended his run on "The Colbert Report" in December to take over CBS's "Late Show" after David Letterman retires later this year.
No replacement has been announced for Stewart.