352 points

The reason for the shift? Stewart and Apple executives “had disagreements over some of the topics and guests,” the sources said. Specifically, they claimed Stewart told staffers that Apple execs took issue with planned programming related to both China and artificial intelligence, and noted that with the 2024 US election coming up, there might have been additional opportunities for disagreement then.

Shows like this should have zero input from executives. If you are not willing to let the show have free rein, you don’t deserve to host the show.

Hopefully Jon Stewart does something else with less corporate oversight.

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73 points

I was so excited to have him back and so let down when he was cancelled. I really do hope he goes somewhere else

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-66 points

You should be clear; was he canceled or was just his show canceled?

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16 points
Removed by mod
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9 points

You got a lot of downvotes for this comment. That’s impressive.

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1 point

First one, then the other.

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52 points

Honestly, I hope he leans into his podcast. IMHO, The Problem’s podcast was better than the show.

The podcast was just as effective at highlighting issues of importance, but it was a bit more fun, and it commented more on the weekly news.

IMHO, the podcast did a better job of scratching my 2000’s Daily Show itch. The TV show was fine, but it felt like an even heavier version of Last Week Tonight. It wasn’t a show I could watch if I had a hard week. It was good, but I often finished it somewhat depressed.

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6 points

I’ll have to check out the podcast. The show was definitely too heavy for me to want to watch most of the time.

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42 points

HBO should make him an offer. Pull him over to chill with John Oliver again like the good old days.

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25 points
*

HBO? Ohh you mean MAX, the hip and cool skateboarding cousin that showed up to HBO’s house in season 7 of the “HBO show” with the bodacious sunglasses and the backward hat.

Yeah, I’m sure that guy is jazzy and gnarly enough to support John Stewart.

Radical!

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6 points

Haha I honestly forgot sometimes that the streaming platform is just MAX now. I work for a cable company and deal with customers who have HBO in their cable packages. It’s such a habit to call it HBO still heh… and Lat Week Tonight does still technically air on HBO on TV. It’s just the streaming episode goes up within 30 mins of the airing generally.

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38 points

The Other Problem with John Stewart: Apple is Beholden to China

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11 points

For real. Maybe PBS can afford him.

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-5 points

You think big business that advertised on pbs would allow that?

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16 points

Have you ever watched Frontline? It’s basically The Problem, but with no jokes. They have a LOT of hour long pieces shitting on the CCP.

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9 points

Holy shit, what a take.

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-5 points
*

Shows like this should have zero input from executives. If you are not willing to let the show have free rein, you don’t deserve to host the show.

What if the talent wants to glorify pedophiles?

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2 points

Executives love that.

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140 points

Fuck Apple, let the man speak.

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42 points
*

This feels like corporate shortsightedness; Apple sees a huge overlap in John Stewart and their own core user base so it seems like an easy win to give him a show that does the investigative journalism that endeared him in the first place. But then he start asking questions about the stock market and poking at potential investors and outside pressure is pushing internal executive conversations that eventually realize the millions they can make by keeping him on the air is nothing compared to the billions lost of investors start pulling out and draining the Apple stock price.

Apple’s only identity at this point is the billions it makes from an over valued stock price. Mr. Stewart threatened it. So capitalism happened.

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-53 points

Oh come on. They’re not preventing him from speaking, they’re choosing to stop putting million$ into a show with someone they no longer want to do business with (for whatever reason; details not clear).

If the show has legs, Stewart will certainly find a new host. Could be a nice catch for one of the other biggies.

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32 points

Yeah they’re allowing him to speak about only what they deem as “appropriate”. Preventing him from speaking about china is not “letting him speak” as you put it. It also sounds like the reasons for not wanting to do business is pretty clear. Stewart wants to talk about things that apple feels might show them in some not great light, so they can’t have any of that.

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-23 points

He can and will say whatever he wants!

Apple just doesn’t want to fund the show.

Two different things.

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20 points

Yeah I wonder why they suddenly aren’t cool with the show. Seems pretty strange

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131 points

As usual Jon shows that he is a man of principles. Fuck apple.

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127 points

Between this on Apple TV+ and Netflix cancelling Patriot Act with Hassan Minaj, it seems there is definitely a big issue with profit driven platforms worried about pissing off actual nations by literally just stating facts.

I hope Jon Stewart can do a deal with another platform and make this kind of content again. But I doubt any big names will want to after this.

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35 points
*

Where can he go? Haven’t we turned every platform into profit seeking machines. Any places that could have supported this type of media got chocked out long ago.

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17 points

PBS?

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15 points

I would love a Jon Stewart PBS tote bag.

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2 points

Hahah best response

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12 points

Unless John Oliver is next to get the can, HBO has always been a safe spot for true free speech, and he really pushes the envelope. But they may not have room in their schedule for two shows like his.

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5 points

Please don’t say those words out loud. That would be a travesty… I get nervous because he has already been doing this show for 9 years next month and that’s kind of getting into show ending territory.

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10 points

He’s doing it for fun at this point. He can post on Oddysea/Peertube/etc… and be completely out of just about anyone’s jurisdiction.

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3 points

There are small independent news groups who I’m sure would be happy to have him. They don’t have their own streaming services, but could likely put his videos on their website or YouTube. The big issue is they couldn’t afford Stewart.

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22 points

Between this on Apple TV+ and Netflix cancelling Patriot Act with Hassan Minaj, it seems there is definitely a big issue with profit driven platforms worried about pissing off actual nations by literally just stating facts.

For profit corporate owned platforms really are starting to show their limitations at this point. Eventually I think we’re going to need a lot more self hosted, possibly federated, platform hosting if we want to address the limitations imposed by a single for profit platform owner driven by engagement and beholden to investors.

Apple deplatforming Stewart is the same issue as Musk tanking Twatter or YouTube demonetizing small content creators because it’s profitable - a privately owned platform with the sole goal of maximizing profit and investment income doesn’t advance the cause of free discussion for the public good.

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11 points

The problem isn’t hosting its paying for production of content. His existing stuff will probably stay up and I find it unlikely that YouTube will take down the mean things John Oliver has said about China. The issue is shows with that amount of research and production is that they need a lot of money to produce content.

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5 points

It’s not anything new that you feel pushback in media whenever someone attempts to challenge the status quo.

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4 points

More reason for universal standardized content access with universal type apps, anyoen can create content and distribute it to millions of people. These networks have always been about convenience, which they have a properietary tech on apparantly.

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3 points

Did you just invent YouTube?

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4 points

No, they invented html.

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1 point

Hassan Minaj

Didn’t he have problems with his staff? They complained on twitter iirc.

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83 points

This would happen at Amazon or Netflix or Disney, too. Apple’s not special in not wanting to piss off the CCP

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62 points

John Oliver doesn’t seem to have a problem with HBO/Max

Colbert seems to struggle more with the FCC regulations on what he can’t say and show more than what CBS wants. It’s less often now but at the start of his Late Show he really appeared to be mean to CBS on-air specifically to prove that they didn’t have a presence in his writers room.

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51 points

HBO doesn’t have a hardware business dependent upon China

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0 points

My guess is that it has more to do with viewership and Emmy wins. His show was frequently telling people that AT&T has terrible service. I can’t imagine AT&T would’ve let that fly if he wasn’t driving viewers and signups.

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5 points

Oliver also has a lot of Emmy wins. He might also have a larger viewing audience.

My guess is that Oliver, like Viacom era Jon Stewart, is popular enough that he can shit on his employer.

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10 points

“That’s right, Business Daddy! Bend over and get ready to take it”

Oliver shits on Business Daddy regularly.

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10 points

Stuart has 22 Emmys from the Daily Show and Colbert Report combined. John Oliver has 17; 3 from the Daily Show and 14 from Last Week Tonight.

I agree with others who said this is Apple’s problem, not Stewart’s. He can get a platform/desk anywhere he wants one.

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0 points

He’s been shitting on his employer pretty much since the beginning. It just seems like he went for the fuck around and find out method and I am willing to bet that him and his staff are quite surprised he hasn’t found out after all these years.

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26 points

eh, wth would netlfix or amazon care what china thinks??

apple has major physical investment in china… thats the conflict of interest here. a media conglomerate changing the story because businessmonies.

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34 points
*

Netflix is a bad example, but Amazon and Disney do a lot of business with China. Amazon has e-commerce and web services offerings in china. Also they, like Apple, manufacture a LOT of shit there. Disney is simpler. They want to sell their media in China.

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5 points

I’m sure most Disney merchandise is also made in China.

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2 points
*

I wonder if this was a Youtube channel he owned… Would google capitulate? Though I can’t imagine it would be worth it for Jon to be on Youtube.

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17 points

They all want access to the Chinese market.

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1 point
Deleted by creator
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6 points

Yep, and the article says that:

“The show’s cancellation is indicative of the kinds of challenges owners of platforms (like Apple, Amazon, Google, and others) face when they are producing content, too.”

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5 points

Netflix is for less beholden to the ccp than Apple or Amazon

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2 points

I always remember, when I see Martin Scorsese throw shade at Disney in an interview, that when he made Kundun, the CCP didn’t like it and made Disney restrict distribution of the film. Michael Eisner literally hired Henry Kissinger to do damage control afterwards.

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