Jimmy Kimmel: ABC Nearly Hired Jon Stewart as Host

Jimmy Kimmel revealed that ABC originally planned to hire Jon Stewart as its late-night host before changing direction and offering the job to Kimmel.

Kimmel, appearing on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast this week, recalled that ABC was “about to hire Jon Stewart” when executives shifted course.

“They wanted a traditional late-night talk show in that slot, which nobody knew,” Kimmel said. “They were almost about to hire Jon Stewart, and Jon and I have the same manager, James ‘Baby Doll’ Dixon. And James was about to close this deal for Jon to host the show.”