Jon Stewart’s Worst ‘The Daily Show’ Guest Was a Whiny Hugh Grant
For 16 years, Jon Stewart ruled the desk at the popular Comedy Central program The Daily Show. But although he interviewed many celebrities during his time there, one of them stood out from the rest for his whiny behavior.
In fact, Stewart disliked having this guest around so much that he swore he’d never have him back on the show again.
How Jon Stewart became famous
According to The Guardian, Stewart was born in 1962 and grew up in New Jersey. He was originally named Jon Stuart Leibowitz, but he didn’t change his name to make it sound more mainstream for show business. His parents divorced when he was 11 years old, and the experience left him with “complicated” feelings toward his father.
But if, as the saying goes, comedy is pain plus time, that difficult event helped set Stewart on a path that would take him far. After he finished college, he started working as a standup comedian in New York. He became so successful that he landed a talk show on MTV in the 1990s.
That led to him taking over the Comedy Central program The Daily Show in 1999. The show had focused on satire before Stewart came along, and it had never quite managed to find a strong audience.
But Stewart quickly changed that.
The success of ‘The Daily Show’
When Stewart took the helm at The Daily Show, he tweaked the format to focus on news and political programming, bringing his sharp style of humor to illuminate the issues of the day.
His impact on the media landscape was evident when the show became one of the most trusted sources of news for young Americans — a distinction you wouldn’t expect for a comedy show.
In 2015, after 16 years, Stewart handed over the job to Trevor Noah, and according to TV Web, he believes that Noah has made The Daily Show even better. But during his time behind the desk, Stewart interviewed many famous people, from Barack Obama to Halle Berry. But among them all, one stands out from all the rest — and not for a good reason.
He revealed who was his least favorite guest
BestLife reports that during an interview in 2012 with Stephen Colbert, Stewart said that Grant was the worst guest he had ever interviewed. And, as he pointed out “we’ve had dictators on the show.” What did he do that got him banned?
In 2009, Hugh Grant starred in Did You Hear About The Morgans with Sarah Jessica Parker. It was not a success, and apparently, Grant’s appearance on The Daily Show to promote the movie didn’t go very well either.
Apparently, Grant’s attitude was hard to take. He didn’t treat people in the studio well, and when they played the clip of the movie he was there to promote, he wasn’t happy about the one they showed.
“What is that clip?” he said. “It’s a terrible clip.” This objection would probably have been unappreciated at any time, but Grant’s publicist had provided it, making the complaint even harder to take. Stewart was so fed up that his response was to suggest that Grant make a better movie next time.
After Stewart said that Grant would never be invited back to The Daily Show, the actor apologized in a tweet, saying, “Turns out my inner crab got the better of me with TV producer in 09. Unforgivable. J Stewart correct to give me kicking.”
It sounds as though Grant learned his lesson from that disastrous appearance. Stewart has moved on from The Daily Show, but Grant is probably one of many who has vivid memories of him as host.
