Roy Wood Jr. Says Hasan Minhaj Was ‘Going’ to Be ‘Daily Show’ Host Before It ‘Fell Apart’ Amid Joke Controversy; Wood Planned to Stick Around Longer

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Roy Wood Jr. said on fellow comedian Mike Birbiglia’s “Working It Out” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that he was going to remain on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” as a correspondent for more time when the plan was for Hasan Minhaj to be named the permanent new host.

Wood surprised fans by announcing his “Daily Show” exit last October, a decision he told Birbiglia came after the plan to have Minhaj host the show “fell apart” amid controversy over an interview Minhaj did with The New Yorker. “That’s literally why everything fell apart,” Wood said about the interview, which revealed that Minhaj had embellished many “true stories” in his stand-up acts. “As far as I was told, Hasan was going to be the guy.” Wood said he planned to stay with “The Daily Show” for “the rest of the year” under new host Minhaj and “we’ll see what Hasan wants to do, what his vision is, whether I fit in that.

I’m still trying to sell my own sitcom, trying to write movies, there’s other shit I wanna do, but let’s see.” The comedian echoed his former “Daily Show” colleague Ronny Chieng, who once called “The Daily Show” the “best show in comedy.” Wood added: “The New Yorker article comes out, and then the buzz is there’s a shift at Comedy Central in whether or not Hasan is still going to be the guy, which eventually turned into he’s not going to be the guy.” Variety exclusively reported last August that Minhaj had emerged as a frontrunner to take over “The Daily Show” as its permanent host following the exit of Trevor Noah.

Minhaj was one of several guest hosts who filled in after Noah’s exit as Comedy Central execs searched for a permanent host.