His decision came down to the fact that the fight for a new fair contract went on so long that the show will not be seating a new permanent host until 2024, and he hasn’t been offered the gig. Whether anyone has is unknown as much of the field seems to still be in contention but Wood’s chosen to move on and figure out his next move instead of staying and working with who he was passed over for.
Wood was this year’s attention-getting host of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, soon after he did his guest host stint on The Daily Show in April, as the show had been utilizing guests hosts all year to the point of the strike and will continue for the rest of the year. Wood’s week had the second-best ratings of the show’s first 11 guest hosts, second only to Al Franken and beating Hasan Minhaj, the media’s reported frontrunner who hit a stumble in recent weeks. Wood had several comedypersons’ endorsements to be permanent host.
He says the Variety story about Minhaj, which Comedy Central has not yet publicly confirmed, made him think more about his future on the show. He also believes it and the New Yorker story where Minhaj confesses his standup has contained embellishments and falsehoods, does not weaken or disqualify his (Minhaj’s) candidacy. “I think Hasan checks a lot of boxes that the network would want and people would want,” Wood remarks. “Hasan’s young, he’s global and he has the political I.Q.”
Wood’s comedy specials for the network, subtitled Father Figure, No One Loves You, and Imperfect Messenger, are streaming on Paramount+ as well.
