The short list of potential successors to Trevor Noah’s throne has narrowed by one.
Puck News reports that embattled frontrunner has been informed by Daily Show parent Paramount Global that he is not getting the coveted hosting gig. The news comes roughly one month after the former Patriot Act headliner found himself at the center of controversy after a damning New Yorker exposé revealed that he had embellished elements of his standup act.
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According to Puck’s , Minhaj’s deal to take the Daily Show reins was all but done before the New Yorker story hit on Sept. 15. In fact, “Minhaj would have been announced as the new TDS host this summer had the strike not intervened,” Belloni maintains, adding, “Instead, both sides sat on the announcement, and then… disaster.”
Minhaj, who was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2014-2018 before leaving to headline Netflix’s Patriot Act, allegedly requested a last-ditch meeting with Paramount boss Chris McCarthy to “plead his case” before he received official notification on on Thursday that he was no longer in the running.
Regarding the embellishment uproar, Minhaj argued in the New Yorker piece, “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth. My comedy Arnold Palmer is 70% emotional truth — this happened — and then 30% hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”
The Daily Show has been relying on guest hosts to fill the void left by Noah last December. Comedy Central recently announced that it will name a full-time replacement sometime next year. The network’s search was complicated in recent weeks by longtime correspondent Roy Wood Jr.’s decision to leave after eight years.
Wood, who had emerged as the new Daily Show host frontrunner following the Minhaj scandal, said he would still consider the gig if it were offered to him.
“If you’re offered the chance to host The Daily Show at any point in your life… you have to stop for a second and consider that,” he told NPR. “The next question becomes, ‘What does The Daily Show look like in 2024? And what does late night look like in 2024?’”
TVLine has reached out to reps for Minhaj and The Daily Show for comment.
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