The Daily Show correspondent and comedian Roy Wood Jr. had some words for the show’s outgoing host Trevor Noah following his surprise announcement last week that he would be departing the Comedy Central series.
During the latest episode of the late night satirical news show, Wood took a moment to address Noah’s departure announcement on Sept. 29, which sources have told The Hollywood Reporter was unknown to staffers as well as Paramount and Comedy Central executives.
“I’m scared to talk to you right now because last time you and I had a conversation, you decided to leave the show,” the correspondent joked. “Shouldn’t even be talking to you. You’re liable to leave during the next commercial break. We probably talking too much right now.”
The playful exchange was the result of Noah beginning his surprising decision with a reference to a recent conversation he’d had with Wood, which was followed by a shout-out to fellow longtime correspondent Ronny Chieng.
“Before we go, I was chatting to Roy Wood Jr. yesterday when we finished the show, and he reminded me that it has been seven years since we started The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” the host said during last Thursday’s five-minute post-show conversation. “One of the overriding feelings I found myself experiencing throughout the nights and even today waking up was a feeling of gratitude. Ronnie, the journey we’ve been on together has been wild; Roy — all the correspondents, everyone. There’s so many people who make this thing come together and I want to say thank you to the audience for an amazing seven years. It’s been wild.”
Noah then revealed his plans to step back from hosting the series to pursue other things in his life. “I realized after the seven years, my time is up, but in the most beautiful way,” Noah said. “I’ve loved hosting this show. It’s been one of my greatest challenges. It’s been one of my greatest joys.”
Wood quipped with Noah that he’s started to get backlash over people thinking he played a role in that decision to leave. “And why’d you bring my name into it when you quit?” Wood asked. “You [going to] leave the show, leave the show. But you started the shit last week, ‘I was talking to Roy.’ You could’ve just said, ‘Bitch, I’m gone.’ That’s all you had to say. You didn’t have to drag my name into it. Now everybody on my Twitter yelling at me, thinking that it’s my fault that you decided to leave the show.”
The Daily Show correspondent even addressed the tabloid photos of Noah and singer Dua Lipa hanging out in New York City, joking that she was the real culprit behind Noah’s decision.
“It’s not my fault when the truth of the matter [is] you was out the night before with Dua Lupita,” Woods said, playing on the singer’s name. “You was out there in them streets with that singing girl.”
While Noah discouraged his Daily Show co-star from believing “anything you read in the tabloids,” Roy was adamant that he got set up. “You came in here and you set me up to talk to me because you knew you was gonna step down after you had the conversation with me.”
News of Noah’s departure follows the host and comedian having re-upped his contract earlier this year following a five-year pact that took the Comedy Central host through 2022. While Noah was vague on Thursday about his post-Daily Show plans, in a lengthy “Between the Scenes” segment, he addressed the announcement’s characterization as a surprise.
“Anytime you transition in a show, there’s a huge process and I am aware of that because I took over from Jon Stewart, which was a monumental task. I understand how hard it was for myself and for the people who helped make this thing happen with me,” Noah said. “That’s why I tell you that I am going to leave so that it’s not like an Irish goodbye.… The goal is that none of us are left in a place where we feel like it was instant or we feel like it was it was a surprise.”
When it came to his departure, Noah said, “The joy is finding out how we do it, how best we do it and then I just hope that you will keep coming back,” before noting that he hopes people tune in without him there. “I hope you’ll come back and I hope you’ll support the next person.”
He also went into more detail on his thoughts about his time on the show and getting vested in other interests right now. He noted that he felt like he’s “been on four different Daily Shows” in light of having to grapple initially with Stewart’s legacy when carving out his own space, then the 2016 election and for the last several years a global pandemic.
Noah then expounded on how the pandemic and his overall seven years on the show informed his decision to leave.
“What I really lost during the seven years was time — now, not to The Daily Show, but to what happened in the world,” he explained. “Because of that I now find myself excited at getting back to doing a few of the things that I did around the world, which I really loved.”
The timeline around identifying a new host and the eventual date of Noah’s departure are still unclear, with sources suggesting his final date may be set in the coming weeks.
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