Roy Wood Jr. shed some new—and ironic—light on his 2023 exit from The Daily Show during his host monologue at Sunday night’s Writers Guild Awards, joking that he left amid Paramount’s merger turmoil only to wind up at CNN, which Paramount’s new owners are now poised to acquire.
“Many of you know me from my time being Black on The Daily Show…,” Wood said two-and-a-half minutes into his WGA monologue. “Some of my nominated Daily Show friends are over there tonight,” he added while gesturing toward one of the ballroom tables.
“Now, I never told y’all this over there at The Daily Show,” he continued, “but one of the reasons why I stepped away… was because at the time, Comedy Central was going through a very, very messy merger [as a part of] Paramount, and I wanted no part of that corporate instability. So I left, and I took my ass to CNN.”
As the crowd chuckled at the irony of his statement, Wood nodded and quipped, “One Battle After Another describes my journey through late night.”
Courtesy of Comedy Central
Wood exited his role as a Daily Show correspondent in October 2023 after an eight-year run—and after not being tapped to succeed Trevor Noah as host. Noah vacated the show’s anchor chair in December 2022, and a permanent replacement had yet to be named at the time of Wood’s departure.
While Wood was obviously disappointed to have been passed over for the job, he said in a March 2024 interview that he’d also lost faith there were viable paths forward for a show without a clear plan in an industry he viewed as increasingly unstable.
“Shows are getting canceled, streamers are collapsing, the industry is slowly imploding,” he explained. “And I’m not just talking about late night—I’m talking about the type of programming that studios and networks will show confidence in and stand behind.”
CNN’s Have I Got News for You, which Wood hosts, is currently midway through its fourth season, airing Saturday nights at 9 p.m. ET.