Movies - TV
Trevor Noah's Daily Show Exit Was a Complete Surprise to the Crew
By VALERIE ETTENHOFER
Comedian Trevor Noah, who has hosted “The Daily Show” for the past seven years, made the surprising announcement on September 29th, that he will be leaving the political talk show. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, this news was not only a total shock for his audience but for his crew as well.
Showrunner Jen Flanz tells THR that the moment she, head writer Zhubin Parang, and the rest of the crew realized what Noah was doing, it was as if they "lost all feeling in our bodies." Flanz described the moment to THR, saying, "He starts talking and talking, and I look at Zhubin, like, 'What is he doing?'"
THR reports that Noah decided against using a script for the announcement, and when Flanz and Parang approached Noah's desk during the act break after the reveal, he apologized for the surprise. "He couldn't even look at us," Flanz says, explaining that she tried to crack a joke to help get through the moment.
Noah told THR, "This is where we create the thing. [The show] is where we're together, our space, and so for me, it felt like the most natural way to tell everybody at the same time." Ultimately, and understandably, Noah wanted everyone to hear it from him first, instead of through the grapevine.