According to Entertainment Weekly, Jessica Williams, the youngest correspondent to ever be a part of The Daily Show will soon become the youngest correspondent to ever leave. Williams was a correspondent for the show for over four years but now she is moving on to focus on a new project of her own on Comedy Central.
The episode this upcoming Thursday will be her last. “I feel so many emotions. I feel like I’m growing up and graduating.” In an email, Trevor Noah, the current host for The Daily Show stated “The sadness I have for Jessica leaving is only eclipsed by the joy I have for her starting her new show. If her podcast is anything to go by, it’s going to be an exciting show!”
Like many of the other talent shown on The Daily Show, Williams wasn’t all that well-known in the industry but her debut on the show definitely changed that. At 22, she became not only the first black woman to hold the correspondent position but she was also the youngest to ever do so. Williams who is now 26 informed her coworkers about the news of her leaving this past Tuesday. But the news doesn’t come as too much of a surprise considering that she had signed a development deal with Comedy Central back in March. A lot of Daily Show viewers were hoping for Williams to inherit Stewart’s position as host so it seemed only natural that she has now been given the opportunity to headline her own title.
Kent Alterman, the president of Comedy Central said “We see her as a great voice — she’s so dynamic and so funny. And she’s kind of grown up there at The Daily Show. Rather than say goodbye to her for her to go somewhere else, we want to make sure that we’re developing with her so that when she’s ready for her next platform, it can actually be with us.”
For William’s upcoming project, she’ll be writing, producing, and starring in a pilot for a half-hour scripted series. Co-producing the series is Naomi Ekperigin (Broad City & Difficult People).
As of now, the comedy series is still untitled but the show will revolve around a politically-minded young woman who has all these social ideas but does not really have it all together.