Former Daily Show host and political commentator, Jon Stewart has announced that he won’t be promoting his upcoming Apple TV Plus series due to the ongoing Writers Strike being held by The Writers Guild of America.
Deadline reported that Stewart was scheduled to appear at an FYC event for the second season of his series, The Problem with Jon Stewart, but had to pull out due to the ongoing strike. The reason for this is because Stewart is part of the Writers Guild and according to the WGA’s rules, members aren’t allowed to promote their projects until the strike concludes.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming FYC event may be impacted due to the writers’ strike. It’s currently unknown how these impacts will be handled, whether they would still go on, be rescheduled, or be canceled without any penalty fees imposed on the networks affected.
It was also reported that Stewart was also set to appear at the Think Apple TV Plus space at Hollywood’s Goya Studios to talk about the show’s second season. Deadline reported that Apple didn’t comment on the current situation but sources close to the show confirmed the cancellation.
Stewart played a role in the previous writers’ strike back in 2007, where he showed support for The Daily Show‘s writing team to join the guild. Throughout the 100-day strike, Stewart referred to his show as “A Daily Show” until the strike ended in February 2008. Other talk shows did the same thing, where they renamed their shows in support of the writers.
However, the former talk show host was criticized by Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane when an episode aired that mocked Stewart’s decision to go on air as the strike was happening.
This year, the Writers Guild of America is on strike once more after negotiations between writers, streamers and TV networks failed to reach an agreement for better compensation. Writers were seen on the streets in front of various network headquarters in New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, it was reported that some talk shows will go dark due to this event. It’s currently unknown how long the strike will go on.