It’s been a sad week for Larry Wilmore, but at least Jon Stewart was there to cheer him up on his final episode of “The Nightly Show.”
The former “Daily Show” star, who created “The Nightly Show” as a replacement for “The Colbert Report,” was a guest on Thursday’s last episode of Wilmore’s show canceled Comedy Central show.
“The last show — oh my god, what did you do, p–s off Peter Thiel?” Stewart asked, referring to the tech billionaire who helped Hulk Hogan take down Gawker.
Stewart went on to tell Wilmore that when he was coming up in the TV ranks “a very wise man said to me, ‘Do not confuse cancellation with failure.’ And I took that to heart.” That “wise man” was David Letterman.
“You took something and got better every f–king day,” Stewart continued.
The compliments didn’t end there. “You started a conversation that was not on television when you began. And you worked with a group of people you invited to that conversation to collaborate with you, to sharpen that conversation,” he told Wilmore. “And what you don’t realize is that you walk out of this room, and that conversation doesn’t end. That’s beautiful thing.”
Earlier on Thursday, Wilmore told TheWrap that Stewart has been “commiserating, that type of thing. Mutual frustration. Jon’s been great.”
Comedy Central will begin airing “@midnight” episodes next week in the “Nightly Show’s” 11:30 p.m. ET slot until a more permanent decision can be made regarding the network’s late-night schedule.