Ever since Jon Stewart departed as host of The Daily Show, speculation has abounded as to what his next career move would be. Would he run for office, ala Al Franken, whose Senate terms have already provided him with enough fodder to fill a book? After all, despite any claims or intentions to the contrary, Stewart became one of the most trusted (fake) newsmen for people of a certain age (the digital one). Or would Stewart reinvent himself as a scrappy grappler and make his feud with WWE heavyweight champion a regular part of Monday Night Raw?
If you answered yes to either question, you severely overestimate how many fucks Stewart has left to give about elections, as well as his tolerance for jerks. No, Stewart is foregoing most human interaction (at least, reporting on it) to run an animal sanctuary in New Jersey with his wife Tracey. The Agence France-Presse reports that Stewart announced his plans at a Farm Sanctuary gala where he and his wife were honored for their animal advocacy. In his speech, Stewart shared his animal-rescue goals while acknowledging the strange circumstances in which he found himself at the time:
“I’m a little uncomfortable. I’ve spent the last 20 years immersed in the world of Washington politics and the media landscape, so I don’t know how to deal necessarily with people who have empathy.”
While the career move is about as far from comedy as you can get, there is some precedent: Stewart’s wife, a vegan, is a former vet tech and they’ve rescued about a dozen animals together, including some of the farm variety. Stewart even used his platform as The Daily Show host to take Governor Chris Christie to task for his support of garden crates. The couple also bought a 12-acre farm in New Jersey recently, which is where Stewart said they’d open the sanctuary. So, we wish Stewart all the best in his new life as a life saver, even if it was prompted in part by people in Washington being just the worst.
[h/t Yahoo! News]