Earlier this month, reports surfaced that NBC approached Jon Stewartabout hosting Meet The Press after David Gregorys departure. A source told New Yorkthat NBC was ready to back the Brinks truck up and pay the comedian an absolute fortune.
In an new interview with Rolling Stone, Stewart confirms that there were indeed discussions. My guess is they were casting as wide and as weird a net as they could, he says. Im sure part of them was thinking, Why dont we just make it a variety show?'
Stewart says he never seriously considered taking the gig. I felt like that was one of those situations, he says, where someone says, We really like what you do. Why dont you come over here and do something different, maybe something you dont do as well, for us? I can understand notionally where it comes from. News and entertainment have melded in a way. But they would be overcompensating on the entertainment side. Thats certainly not an outlandish decision, although I dont necessarily think thats the best direction for it.
Jon Stewart on Politically Charged Directorial Debut: 'I Wanted to Lift the Blindfold'35 Greatest Horror Soundtracks: Modern Masters, Gatekeepers ChoosePerforming With Missy Elliott, 17 Years Later
He does think that CBS made a very wise decision in hiring Stephen Colbert to take over for David Letterman. Hes going to be tremendous, he says. Untethered from his character, I think hell actually have more room and really be able to deliver in a way thats going to surprise people.
Stewart is less confident that hed work as the host of a network late night show, and he has no interest in finding out. I had done a show like that 20 years ago, he says, referencing his short-lived eponymous show on MTV. The people spoke and felt that was not something I should do. They felt, in fact, that I should be locked out of the building. It also wasnt something that I felt necessarily comfortably doing. I dont think Im particularly suited for it.
For much more from our in-depth interview with Stewart, including a detailed look at his new movie Rosewater, check out the next issue of Rolling Stone, on stands next week.