Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart’s biting satire may have made his new bosses squirm, but they went ahead and extended the comedian’s run on Comedy Central through December 2026.

The channel’s parent company, Paramount, announced Monday that Stewart will continue to host “The Daily Show” on Monday nights and serve as an executive producer through the end of next year.

Members of the show’s news team will continue to share Tuesday through Thursday hosting duties. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“Jon Stewart continues to elevate the genre he created. His return is an ongoing commitment to the incisive comedy and sharp commentary that define The Daily Show,” Ari Pearce, Comedy Central’s manager said in a prepared statement. “We’re proud to support Jon and the extraordinary news team.”

Stewart’s contract was re-upped nearly four months after Paramount-owned sister network CBS notified Stephen Colbert, who rose to fame on “The Daily Show,” that it was dumping his late night show at the end of the season. The cancelation was revealed days after Colbert lambasted a $16 million settlement Paramount agreed to pay President Trump to end a lawsuit over edits to “60 Minutes.” Colbert called the arrangement “a big fat bribe.”

Paramount settled the Trump suit to win approval from the Trump administration of its sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners. CBS has said the reason for Colbert’s cancellation was financial, not political, although many people have expressed doubts.

Ellison took ownership of Paramount in August. Stewart has joked that he, too, might be tossed as the company tries to reposition itself to the political center.

Last week, the company began a deep round of layoffs, cutting 1,000 employees with plans to terminate another 1,000 in the coming weeks, in an effort to trim its workforce by 10%.

After a nine-year absence, Stewart returned as a host in February 2024. He had helmed the show for 16 years before taking a break in 2015. His current contract was expiring.

The show was hosted by Trevor Noah until 2022, when he stepped down. That prompted a rotation of guest hosts, including Kal Penn, Charlamagne tha God, Sarah Silverman and Michelle Wolf.

Last month, during a conversation with the New Yorker at a cultural festival, Stewart was asked whether he might stick around longer. “We’re working on staying,” Stewart told the New Yorker’s David Remnick.

The rotation of “The Daily Show” hosts also will include Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, and Desi Lydic with Troy Iwata and Grace Kuhlenschmidt.

Jon Stewart took aim at his network’s parent firm Paramount Global for paying $16 million to settle President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News, calling the move a payoff for approval of a pending merger.

On the Monday edition of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Stewart and guest and former “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft laid out the details of the legal skirmish, which they agreed felt like an organized crime shakedown.

“I’m obviously not a lawyer, but I did watch ‘Goodfellas,’” Stewart said. “That sounds illegal.”

Last week, Paramount Global agreed to pay $16 million to settle the legal volley from Trump, who claimed “60 Minutes” edited an interview with his 2024 election opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, to make her look better and bolster her chances in the election. CBS denied the claims, saying the edits were routine.

But the suit — described as frivolous by 1st Amendment experts — was seen as an obstacle to Paramount Global’s proposed $8-billion merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media. The deal requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump acolyte Brendan Carr.

Stewart rhetorically asked Kroft if this settlement was “just a payment so this merger can go through and not be challenged by Trump’s FCC?”

Kroft, who noted that Paramount Global majority shareholder Shari Redstone wants the sale to go through, confirmed Stewart’s assessment.

Kroft noted that “60 Minutes” never said it screwed up, “they just paid the money.”

“So just flat-out protection money,” Stewart said.

“Yeah, it was a shakedown,” Kroft said.

Comedy Central, the cable network that serves as the home of “The Daily Show,” will be included in the Skydance deal. But Stewart remained relentless throughout the segment.

“It doesn’t feel like scrutiny on news networks — it feels like fealty,” Stewart said. “They are being held to a standard that will never be satisfactory to Donald Trump. No one can ever kiss his ass enough.”

Stewart has always spoken his mind on “The Daily Show,” delivering mostly harsh assessments of Trump. It remains to be seen if he’ll have that freedom when Skydance, led by Trump supporter Larry Ellison and his son David, eventually takes over.

Stewart returned to Comedy Central after parting ways with Apple TV in 2023. His last program, “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” ended after Apple executives reportedly expressed concerns over the comedian’s handling of potential show topics related to China and artificial intelligence.

Apple has deep ties to China and has launched an artificial intelligence product incorporated into its operating systems.

Stewart demonstrated the shakiness of the Trump lawsuit’s claims with an edited Fox News interview with Trump from last year.

Trump appeared to give a simple yes when asked on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” if he would de-classify government files on convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. However, Trump equivocated in a longer version of the answer that aired later on the network.

With the Harris interview, CBS News split an answer on Israel that she gave to “60 Minutes” presenting one portion on its Sunday round table program on “Face the Nation.” A different portion aired on the actual program, which led Trump supporters to cry foul.

“I would like to know why the ’60 Minutes’ edit was worthy of a $16-million acquiescence of what is considered the Tiffany news, gold standard network … when very clearly, Fox just did what seems to me a more egregious edit,” Stewart said.

A representative for Paramount Global had no comment on Stewart’s remarks.

Kroft said the the mood is bleak at “60 Minutes” in the aftermath of the settlement.

“I think there is a lot of fear over there,” he said. “Fear of losing their jobs. Fear of losing their country. Fear of losing the 1st Amendment.”