Comedy Central may have been disappointed with how Larry Wilmore's late-night show performed, but one high-profile person certainly wasn't: Jon Stewart, who showed up to the final Nightly Show on Thursday to bid his former Daily Show correspondent adieu, USA Today reports. Calling Wilmore's show a "raw and poignant and funny and smart" venture that Wilmore created "from scratch," per Deadline, Stewart shared some advice he once received from David Letterman ("Do not confuse cancellation with failure") and told Wilmore he had pulled off his show "beautifully."
"You gave voice to underserved voices in the media arena," Stewart said. "You took something and got better every [expletive] day. … You started a conversation that was not on television when you began. ... What you don't realize is you walk out of this room and that conversation doesn't end." On Instagram, Wilmore did note one perk of being canned: all the free booze he was sent from the likes of Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, and John Oliver. (Stewart also cheekily asked Wilmore if he'd somehow rubbed Peter Thiel the wrong way.)