Roy Wood Jr. gets candid about taking leaps of faith and why he’s hesitant to go into ‘serious’ journalism
TheGrio...
The comedian and host of ‘Have I Got News For You’ has worn the hat of a satirical journalist since ‘The Daily Show.’ After his departure in 2023, he leaned even more into it with his show on CNN.
Roy Wood Jr. has worn many hats in his career, whether as a stand-up comedian, a beloved correspondent on “The Daily Show,” an actor, or even the go-to host for the MLB’s annual awards show. But if there’s one thing he’ll readily admit he has some pause on, it’s diving deeper into journalism, even though he sees an immediate parallel between modern journalism and modern comedy, with more people striking out on their own via YouTube and other platforms as opposed to traditional formats.
In a recent chat with CBS News’ Jericka Duncan for her “I Am That Reporter” podcast, the Birmingham native joked that he and Duncan would likely be co-workers due to the pending merger of Paramount, CBS’s parent company and CNN and his news consumption mainly consists of local news compared to national outlets. However, when the topic of Wood Jr. doing serious journalism himself came up, the “Have I Got News For You” host explained why he wouldn’t exactly lean all the way in, even as Duncan (and others) believe he’d be really good at it.
“I don’t know how to approach it,” Wood said around the 29-minute mark. “I don’t know how to approach it in a way that because my default is to be funny and if I’m not trying to be funny, I feel like I’m bombing or I’m sucking or this isn’t good, this isn’t connecting and so I don’t want to.”
He later added, “My fear is that journalism, proper investigative, what you’re talking about, is the other extreme where you don’t see me as funny, you see me as oh, ‘Roy turned into serious journalism man.’”
Throughout his career, Wood has been vocal about the aftermath of his time on “The Daily Show” and how, for years, fans thought he was a shoo-in to replace Trevor Noah as the show’s host. Ultimately, Comedy Central opted to tap former show host Jon Stewart to return to the anchor desk for Monday shows while a rotating cast of comedians host the remainder of the week.
Wood had been on the show for eight seasons, and once the writer’s strike of 2023 occurred, he felt the need to bet on himself.
“If the writer’s strike never happens, I stay,” he revealed. “The writer’s strike is what gave me an idea of, well, what would my life be without this show? I have to figure out what I’m going to do next.”
The choice to leave taught him a very valuable lesson about looking out for his best interests as his exit from one chapter with “The Daily Show” eventually led to a new chapter with “Have I Got News For You,” which is set to have its fifth season premiere in September.”
“Sometimes you have to make the jump and then the solution presents itself,” he told Duncan. “I don’t think you get the safety of keeping one foot on first and then transition.”