Jon Stewart breaks down in tears as he pays tribute to his dog on Daily Show

‘I thought I’d get further,’ shared the host as his voice broke

Jon Stewart broke down in tears as he shared some sad news with The Daily Show viewers on Monday (26 February).

The political commentator returned to the Comedy Central programme this month, after nine years away.

In an emotional tribute, he shared that his beloved dog Dipper, had passed away the day before.

“In a world of good boys, he was the best,” said Stewart as his voice broke.

The host shared with viewers the story of how his family met Dipper – but he didn’t get far before the emotions spilled over.

Stewart explained that his children wanted to raise some money for an animal shelter in New York, called Animal Haven, 10 to 12 years ago. After the family baked cupcakes and set up their table outside, staff members working at the shelter introduced them to Dipper.

Stewart described Dipper as a “one-ish year old brindle pitbull” before choking up. He hit the table with his fist and said “F***” before pulling out a box of tissues from under his desk.

He revealed that Dipper had been “hit by a car in Brooklyn, and lost his right leg”.

The presenter broke down in tears as he talked about his dog (The Daily Show / Comedy Central)

“I thought I’d get further,” the emotional host laughed as the tears continued.

“They put the dog in my lap, we left that day feeling really good that we’d helped this great organisation and we also left with this one-ish year old brindle pitbull. We called him Dipper. In a world of good boys, he was the best.”

Stewart went on to share Dipper’s adventures with viewers as he revealed the dog had been part of the show’s original crew.

“He used to come to The Daily Show every day. He was part of the OG Daily Show dog crew,” continued Stewart.

“We’d come to tape this show, and Dipper would wait for me to be done,” he said.

Dipper had met actor and authors and presidents and Kings, according to the presenter (The Daily Show/ Jon Stewart)

“He met actors and authors and presidents and kings. And he did what the Taliban could not do, which is, put a scare into Malala Yousafzai.”

Stewart, who walked away from The Daily Show in 2015, was replaced by Trevor Noah who hosted the programme until 2022. Stewart returned to his old perch on 12 February.

He has agreed to host each Monday through the election, and to executive produce the weeknight show for Comedy Central into next year to help it through another transition.