Jon Stewart on the cancellation of the TV+ show: Apple didn’t ‘censor’ him

Apple TV+ has seen a number of shows canceled over the years, but no cancellation has received more attention than that of Jon Stewart’s show, The problem with Jon Stewart.

Reports indicated that Apple and Stewart’s split was related to conflicts over topics the show was going to cover, such as AI and China. Stewart has only briefly discussed the cancellation before. But now, in a new podcast interview, he shares in much more depth what happened.

The origin story and early demise of Jon Stewart’s TV+ show

In the latest episode of Matt Belloni’s podcast, The cityJon Stewart was set to talk about a range of topics, but the focus was on the genesis and abrupt end of his TV+ series.

The Daily Show has always been a little more weather-focused. We were there almost every day and the genesis of The problem It was more about what if we looked at this more like climate systems? What causes the weather? How do these things happen? And I felt invigorated again. There was just something about changing that perspective and looking at it from that slightly sideways place that felt revelatory and kind of got me excited again. And it was the Apple Show.

And then Apple said, “We’d prefer if you didn’t do that.” And then I said, “Oh no, no, but I’m excited again.” And they said: “Yes, yes, but there are fewer of us. » So we had some disagreements about direction, tone, subject, etc.

Hearing the origin story of The problem is interesting, especially as it contrasts with the work that Stewart did (and still does now) on The daily show.

The point of confusion podcast host Belloni brings up is what changed in the Apple partnership that led to the show’s end.

Belloni: What I never understood is that you were not an unknown entity. They knew exactly what they were buying when they went to the Jon Stewart store, and yet they brought the product home, and after a while it’s like, wait, we didn’t buy that. Wait, he means China? He wants to talk about Al?

Stewart: Well, first of all, I don’t look at it as if they didn’t censor me, that wasn’t free speech. 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 they think it’s going to hurt their beer sales or whatever they want to sell, and that’s the deal we all make .

It seems Stewart is more measured than before in the way he talks about Apple and generally understands why the series ended when it did.

Maybe there will be more to tell later, but for now, this is the best explanation we’ve received for why The problem ended after just two seasons.