Larry Wilmore Jokingly Tried To Talk Jon Stewart Out Of Leaving ‘The Daily Show’

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Jon Stewart’s announcement from earlier this week caught plenty of people by surprise. People flew to Twitter, wrote wordy think pieces, and most likely collapsed into a ball of emotion by 11:35 that night. Now imagine being Larry Wilmore and knowing all of that information about week before it was announced to the public.

Wilmore not only kept quiet, but he kept quiet about being the first to be shocked by Stewart’s retirement from The Daily Show. He opened up about his reaction to The Hollywood Reporter, claiming that he was just as shocked as us normal people and joking about attempting to stop Stewart from leaving:

“I was devastated just like everyone else just because of the thought of Jon leaving, but talking to him about it and everything, it feels like it’s time for him to move on…

“I slapped him,” he said, pretending to slap someone around. “Shook him a little bit.”

Then Wilmore rushed off to host the East Coast segment of the Writers Guild Awards, a reminder of how far he’s come since joining The Daily Show and why the news of Stewart’s departure probably caused the stir that it did.

Elsewhere, Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead talked about the announcement and who could come in to replace Jon Stewart once he finally leaves:

“Jon not only took time to develop himself and his role, he took time to develop a franchise where it felt like a super solid foundation for the next person to come in,” she said. “We’ve seen John Oliver be able to do it. There’s somebody that will come in that will be able to do it because that’s the legacy that Jon left for that person, that’s pretty awesome.” (via)

For the record, her “fun choices” include Rachel Maddow and Aisha Tyler. Interesting choices, particularly Maddow because I don’t picture her thriving in the comedy realm of the show. I’m sure we’ll have months of speculation on the topic, so it could probably make sense by then.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

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