Comic Roy Wood Jr. won’t be returning to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
The news of Wood’s departure was reported by NPR on Thursday.
The announcement comes as late-night talk shows return following a five-month absence brought on by the Hollywood writers strike. “The Daily Show,” which had been using guest hosts when the strike hit, will return Oct. 16 and continue using guest hosts for the remainder of 2023.
Wood joined “The Daily Show” in 2015 as a correspondent. In a July interview with Connecticut Public’s “Disrupted,” Wood said that it was difficult to plan a future at the show with no permanent host going into an election year.
“I just want a show that has a host, even if it's not me,” Wood told Connecticut Public. “If the plan is to always have guest hosts, then I would rather seek an opportunity where I could go somewhere else.”
Trevor Noah left “The Daily Show” in December 2022. His departure followed the exit of several other big personalities from late night television, including Samantha Bee and Conan O’Brien.
In a statement, “The Daily Show” praised Wood for his “comedic genius.” Wood told NPR he would still consider hosting the show if the opportunity were presented to him.
In July, Wood said he was considering other career options, including writing a movie, hosting a program elsewhere, or selling his own television show.
“It's like ‘The Bachelor,’” he said, “but there's like eight different careers that I'm going to take on hometown visits – take on dates. And then at the end, decide who gets a rose. It may not even be ‘The Daily Show.’”
Connecticut Public's Wayne Edwards, Kevin Chang Barnum, Khalilah Brown-Dean and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
