Roy Wood Jr. Confirms His Plea for a ‘Daily Show’ Host at Emmy Awards: “This Has Been Going on Too Long!”

Roy Wood Jr. confirmed his fans’ lip-reading skills on Monday after Emmy Award audiences caught him mouthing what appeared to be a plea from stage for a new Daily Show host.

Trevor Noah famously left The Daily Show in December 2022, but the Emmys delay means the Television Academy is only now honoring the 2022-23 TV season. In that time, The Daily Show has yet to name a permanent replacement, rotating through guest-hosts instead since this time last year. Early on in that process, Wood, a correspondent for the entirety of Noah’s run, was seen as a viable contender for the role, but he ultimately exited the show in October, once it was clear that the search would drag on — and on.

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At the Emmy Awards on Monday, Noah’s iteration of The Daily Show won best variety talk series, beating out The Late Show With Steven Colbert, Late Night With Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Problem With Jon Stewart. Wood joined Noah and the rest of the team onstage for the win, where he could be seen mouthing “please hire a host” as Noah spoke. He later responded to posts on X (formerly Twitter) about the incident, writing, “I was trying to do that in the low,” with several laughing symbols.

THR tracked down Wood Jr. at the Governors Ball, post-show, where he revealed: “I was saying, ‘Please hire a host.’ I probably shouldn’t have done it, but this has been going on too long. Get it together!” He then added: “But I’m so happy that [Noah] won.”

The ongoing search seemed to be weighing on Noah’s mind too: “When they announced that we had won, I was like, ‘Ah, who is going to replace me?'” he said in the Emmy press room. “That’s the second thing I thought of as well. I’m still thinking about that, and I will continue to think about it as I celebrate this amazing achievement.”

Noah is the first person of color to host a winning variety talk series at the Emmys since In Living Color, created by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans, won the award in 1990.

See a full list of Monday night’s winners.

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