Ailes Is Gone But Jon Stewart Is Back

What were the odds that the night Jon Stewart was scheduled to return to late-night TV would be the same night Roger Ailes resigned as chairman of Fox News?

Stewart appeared on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show on CBS and both took a moment to share a laugh at Ailes expense.

First Colbert reported that Ailes had resigned. Noting that he’s spent 10 years making fun of “his network, him, and the damage I think he did to the world” while on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report, Colbert deadpanned that he took no pleasure in Ailes losing his job. Then he asked that the camera move so that he could celebrate while out of sight.

Then Colbert wondered if there were “someone I could share this lack of pleasure with,” and Stewart popped up from under the desk in a beard and t-shirt. Stewart had been scheduled to appear on Colbert’s show Thursday night a week or so ago.

Stewart also asked that the camera shift so he could enjoy a moment of celebration at Ailes expense.

He then proceeded to spend several minutes ranting about how Trump was guilty of everything that Republicans and Fox News had accused President Obama of being—“a divisive, thin-skinned narcissist who has no grip on reality”—over the years. (He also got a shot in at Arby’s, a long-time punching bag/sponsor at Comedy Central.)

“I see your bulls**t,” Stewart said, which was bleeped, at least where I live. Colbert came out from under the desk to remind Stewart he was live on national broadcast TV. Then Stewart concluded by calling the Republicans “cravenly convenient...," but before he could get to the final hyphenated descriptor, he was bleeped by Colbert with an air horn. “I’ve never been on a show with stakes,” Stewart quipped.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNiqpBNE9ik[/embed]

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.