Jon Stewart Details Apple TV Show’s Cancellation and Disagreements

Jon Stewart continues to talk about his separation from Apple after parting ways with the tech giant after hosting two seasons of “The Problem.” Stewart launched the talk show in 2021 as part of an initial multi-year deal with Apple. The first season of the show aired episodes every two weeks, while the second season moved to a weekly format. The streamer confirmed last October that Stewart’s show would not return.

“They didn’t censor me, it wasn’t free speech,” Stewart recently said on “The Town” podcast (via Rolling Stone) about the end of his relationship with Apple. “When you work for a company, it’s part of the contract, even at Comedy Central. The deal is I can do whatever I want until it hurts their beer sales or whatever they want to sell. And that’s the deal we all make.

Stewart detailed an example of the disagreements he had with Apple. It centered on a conversation Stewart had for “The Problem” with economist Larry Summers. The two men were talking about federal business interests and corporate profits when Summers pointed out the obvious fact that Stewart hosted a talk show for Apple. Stewart admitted that all companies, including Apple, were ripping off customers.

“We play the interview for the audience, they explode like we just hit a three-pointer at the buzzer,” Stewart said. “The show ends, we go down in ‘Rudy’ mode. The Apple executives then walk into the locker room with a look on their faces and I’m like, “Oh my God, did the factory explode, what happened?” »

“And they say, ‘Are you going to use that Summers thing,'” Stewarts continued. “I was like, ‘The one where the crowd was clapping?’ We went back and forth for a few weeks before the show aired on this particular moment. That’s when I realized, “Oh, our goals don’t match in any way.” » We try to achieve in the best possible way the execution of the intention that we can formulate, but they protect a different agenda. And that’s when I knew we were in trouble.

There’s no ill will against Apple, Stewart said, adding: “The philosophy of when you work for a company, whether it’s Amazon or Apple or now these new conglomerates, it’s a different calculus.”

“There’s a mantra we all have to remember: Corporations are assholes,” he later said when asked about the broader relationship between the entertainment industry and geopolitical issues. . “They are now, and they always have been. They are not looking to cause problems. I worked at Comedy Central, their lawyers were constantly threatened with advertiser boycotts. Comedy Central’s brand was, to some extent, provocative. And so it was mostly positive for them. Most content companies don’t want that smoke.

Stewart made headlines in February when he appeared on “CBS Mornings” and said Apple canceled “The Problem With Jon Stewart” because “they didn’t want me to say things that might get to me.” causing trouble “. On the April 1 episode of “The Daily Show,” he further explained Apple’s concerns about the direction of his now-deleted talk show and corresponding podcast.

Stewart was interviewing Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan on “The Daily Show” and told her he had already offered to have her as a guest on “The Problem” podcast. Since Khan’s work at the FTC targets the monopolistic practices of tech giants, Apple didn’t want Stewart to bring her on the program to talk about such topics.

“I wanted to have you on a podcast and Apple asked us not to,” Stewart said. “They literally said, ‘Please don’t talk to him.'”

Stewart said Apple didn’t even want him to talk about the dangers of AI on his podcast. He now hosts new episodes of “The Daily Show” on Monday nights on Comedy Central.