Comedian Amy Schumer confirmed to The Daily Beast Friday that she was in fact offered the position of host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show ahead of Jon Stewart’s departure.
Schumer, already a Comedy Central veteran with her program Inside Amy Schumer, revealed that she turned down the offer so as not to be tied down by the job. Stewart, after all, served as the program’s host for a whopping 17 years.
“I was so honored to be asked and considered,” she explained. “With Comedy Central, I project so much ‘You’re my parents!’ on the network and the people that run it, so them saying, ‘We believe in you and trust that you can do this,’ I thought, ‘Oh my god, thank you!'”
“And then I thought, ‘Well, I could give everyone I love a job and we could all be together for five years,” Schumer added. “But picturing being in a building and knowing what I was going to do for five years — I love not knowing. And I’ve never done anything safe or to make money for that reason. So, you know, I said, ‘I can’t start now.'”
Alas, Comedy Central eventually selected South African comedian Trevor Noah, who has appeared on The Daily Show as a contributor, as Stewart’s replacement.
Schumer thus has the freedom to continue to do what she does best, which evidently involves starring in delusional birth control parodies and rejoicing in Hillary Clinton’s laugh.
