Fox News chief Roger Ailes gave a backhanded compliment to comedian Jon Stewart in an interview published on Monday, saying “The Daily Show” host was funny but never did any real damage to the conservative news channel.
“He’s been after us for years. Occasionally we pay attention. We think he’s funny,” Ailes told The Hollywood Reporter. “We never took it seriously and he never made a dent in us.”
Stewart’s last time hosting “The Daily Show” is Thursday night.
“As he faces the end of his career, he’s beginning to wonder: ‘Is this as popular as I’m ever going to get? Is this as much power as I’ll ever have? The one person I could never get rid of was Roger Ailes. I tried. I did everything I could.’ This was all a plea to his lefty friends,” Ailes told THR. “I think he’s disappointed that he didn’t accomplish that goal, and we, of course, supplied him with half of his comedy. It’s just a matter of disappointment.”
Stewart’s Fox News takedowns were common on his Comedy Central program, but Fox is expected to be a less frequent target when Trevor Noah takes over hosting the show on Sept. 28.
Stewart even called out Ailes himself last week when he compared the Fox executive to death in a July 29 skit.
“He’s a brilliant comedian. He’s actually a very nice guy, and I saw him with his kids on the street. He’s a good father,” Ailes told THR. “He has a bitter view of the world and you see it embodied in how he’s reacting to Fox News, equating it with death.”
