Jimmy Kimmel Thinks ABC Should’ve Hired Jon Stewart for His Late Night Slot: “That Was a Mistake”

Jimmy Kimmel thinks Jon Stewart should’ve been hired for his job hosting ABC’s late night slot.

The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host appeared on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast Wednesday, where he recounted his path to securing the gig. He shared that ABC was “about to hire Jon Stewart” when they made a sudden pivot.

“They wanted a traditional late night talk show in that slot, which nobody knew. 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,” he said. “And Lloyd [Braun, an ABC chairman,] watched the tape, and he was like, ‘I think this might be the guy.’ And he brought the tape to Bob Iger, and Iger said, ‘Yeah, I think this might be the guy.'”

Kimmel admitted “it was a very strange” situation due to him and Stewart sharing the same manager, who had to eventually break the news to The Daily Show host. “Because Jon and I had the same manager, now [Dixon’s] in the difficult position of having to tell Jon, ‘Uh, you’re not going to ABC, but Jimmy is going to ABC,’” he explained.

Even though he landed the job, Kimmel said it was a “mistake” for ABC not to hire Stewart. “That was a mistake by the way. They definitely should’ve hired Jon. If I’m in that position, there’s no question I hire Jon 100 times out of a 100,” he added.

Kimmel was so perplexed by the offer that he personally went to Bob Iger and said, “‘What was it, like why — this is quite a leap that you guys made. I was on The Man ShowI was doing football picks on Fox NFL Sunday — what was it?’ He goes, ‘Well, you were cheaper.’ And everybody laughed, but I knew he wasn’t kidding.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! debuted in January 2003. Stewart joined Comedy Central’s The Daily Show in 1998 where he remained until announcing his exit in 2015. He has since returned to the series.