From A Busboy To The Bitter End: The Underhanded Creation Of Jon Stewart

Contrary to the common perception about Hollywood, most careers in show business are not achieved by hard work and exceptional talent. They’re actually achieved by amazingly aggressive marketing, making cutthroat contracts, underhanded dealings, veil threats, direct threats, and even by using starkly violent intimidation. It’s all done by a team of individuals operating on separate levels yet working in concert together to help create a star that they hope will bring them all success and make them all rich. Who’s actually best for the role and who has the most talent is not as important as one might assume. Which killer agent, representative, publicist, or producer can hustle and grind and push and pull and cut the best deal and use the media to promote is. Imploring the technique of bullying in making a Hollywood star is not out of order in fact it’s vital and there were no bigger bullies on the block in Hollywood throughout the 1990’s than Bob and Harvey Weinstein at Miramax Pictures. The two brothers who ran the most significant independent film studio of the entire decade of the 1990’s. The Weinstein’s developed close relationships with a stable of wannabe talent. Producers, writers, directors, actors. They outbid other studios for the rights to movies, they bought good reviews for their movies, when that wouldn’t work, they flat out harassed and threatened movie critics to get good reviews. They intimidated others to make their chosen stars get academy award nominations and wins. Good Will Hunting and Shakespeare in Love were two films that Miramax blatantly bullied and muscled into winning Oscars and again in 2003 with the hit musical adaptation of Chicago. The Weinstein’s paid off academy voters, had others illegally voting and stuffed the ballot boxes to enrich their films with more votes when the Oscar announcements came. They paid off journalists and threatened, and harassed anyone they could to keep all of the news coming out of Miramax positive. It was all fuzzy and warm and only in small moments did the cracks begin to reveal themselves to the oblivious public. In 1995 Director Quentin Tarantino spit on a reporter who approached him while on the red carpet at an event because the reporter’s outlet ran a negative story that had just come out about Tarantino his relationship with actress Uma Thurman. Tarantino’s action uncovered a highly narcissistic man who was not used to any negative press. It all stemmed from him being shielded under the largely protective umbrella of The Weinstein’s. It was highly unusual for negative press like that to get out. Tarantino was Miramax’s prize pony. Bob and Harvey put everything they had into making sure the road was clear for Quentin to have anything he wanted. Including a metric ton of hype. They promoted him and his films like no other director had ever seen in Hollywood. They put huge money in promoting his films, they coerced and paid off the critics and the press for constant and glowing coverage. From the release of his 1991 debut Reservoir Dogs until 1998 four years after the release of his 1994 Sophomore effort and blockbuster Pulp Fiction you wouldn’t know there was another independent filmmaker in the world based on the preoccupation the critics and press had for him. That fixation came mostly out of Miramax, making him a cash cow for all involved. When a positive story about Quentin came a lot of money came with it. Critics rarely even talked about another independent or even a studio director unless it was Tarantino and when they did it paled in comparison in the lengths they went on and on about Tarantino. He was highly talented his films were first rate and made tons of money but there was something abnormal about it all. It wasn’t an entirely organic phenomenon. It was irregular. Something was off and that fishy smell was coming from Harvey and Bob Weinstein. What the world was slow to find out and that was once again based on the masterful job The Weinstein’s did in make believe of their product was that Miramax was no longer an independent studio, they were bullying critics and journalists. They were also tormenting and squeezing out the other competition from other independent film and production companies. The Weinstein’s didn’t believe in the independent spirit and community of film, they believed in making Miramax rich at all costs no matter who else it hurt or cut down. Devious transactions and scheming intimidation were the trademark of how they did business. One of the many actors the Weinstein’s tried to make into a star in the mid to late nineties was a stand-up comedian from New Jersey named Jon Stewart, who was trying to bust into acting. Miramax pushed Stewart into many types of roles and slots in their movies wherever they could fit him in. Stewart wasn’t a great actor, nor did he have the traditional handsome matinee idol looks they needed to make him into a leading man. Stewart had sarcastic humor and a charismatic on-screen persona, and he was able to play the quirky character roles the Weinstein’s found for him. But Stewart looked uncomfortable in the constrictive roles he was put into, and that awkwardness came through on movie screens so much that that he had to be demoted to television which actually turned out to his good fortune because t.v was at the beginning of a revolution that would bring it closer to being put on equal footing with the movies. If you look at most of Jon Stewart’s career his greatest success comes from simply playing himself. MTV inexplicably gave Stewart his own talk show without having much experience at all even in stand up. The HIT HBO comedy about late night talk shows The Larry Sanders Show tabbed Stewart to be the new “it boy” on TV because he was just that in real life. He hooked up with another comic who was great on television but struggled in the movies Garry Shandling. The Larry Sanders show had fun spoofing how producers, executives and agents couldn’t wait for Stewart to replace Sanders as the show’s host because it was all based in the reality of all of these groups latching onto Stewart to help turn him into a star, they would all benefit from for real. Stewart inexplicably was picked to host The Daily Show. On the daily show Stewart was able to make fun of politics and politicians yet he also assisted in watering down the real threat of both sides’ politics by playing both sides do it. Stewart refuses to take shot and hold white working-class America accountable and pumps economic anxiety. His popular debates vs Bill Oreilly only helped normalize and fuel fox news’ own ratings because of course it was all in the name of entertainment that too many unaware people didn’t realize it wasn’t actually the news nor should be taken seriously. Stewart developed a loyal following and turned himself into something of a television icon. But the seriousness of which to take Stewart was all smoke in mirror. Stewart didn’t know enough specifics of politics. Everything was emitted by Stewart in generalities of “the political machine” and “the Establishment. Jon threw a black writer under the bus, Jon through many people under the bus. Jon contracted the disease of thinking he was more accomplished and important than he actually is. Developing a narcissistic air of self-importance, spurred on by a sometimes crazed fanbase he was only 40 but he acted like he had been around since the beginning of show business and politics. Jon lived through Watergate and thinks that gives him some keen insight into politics. He wears it on his sleeve as some kind of indignant martyrdom that he’s been hurt by the establishment when in actuality if it wasn’t for the establishment he wouldn’t be here. He bankrolled fame and a ton of money from The daily show and that for some reason gave Stewart a credibility he never deserved and allowed him to level jump in Hollywood creating a persona of importance allowed him to acquire a group of Hollywood big shot friends and industry giant supporters. Having Stewart at your award show whether the AFI or Kennedy Center Honors seemed to oddly be a must. He hosted the Oscars in 2008. Yet Stewart’s accomplishments are surprisingly little for as long as he’s been in show business but he’s automatedly considered almost hitting legend status. He’s really responsibly for dumbing down a generation on politics who claim the daily show was the best news show even though it’s a comedy show on a comedy network yet at their convenance every time Stewart says something that draws pushback “It’s only a joke” and “He’s just a comedian.” He pushed the idea that the covid 19 virus was a lab leak and walks a thin line of anti-vax. Stewart ramrodded Hillary Clinton for the hero of his fanbase Bernie Sanders. When Donald Trump was elected. Stewart took off and ran away. Not wanting to face the responsibility every day of what he helped create. Stewart wrote and directed a movie that bombed which kept him from being hired to do another one and then embarked on phony attempt to build himself into some type of modern-day mother Theresa for working class white people who are public servants. Stewart took credit for getting first responders their benefits even though it was congress who signed off on the bill. He took credit for a health care bill on care for soldiers effected by burn pits even though it was President Joe Biden who requested a bill be written so he could sign it. Stewart shtick is to make a public display demanding Joe Biden do something when he knows full well Joe Biden is already planning on doing it. Then when Joe Biden does it. Stewart takes a bow and all the credit for it by his sycophant followers. Stewart signed that ridiculous letter of Hollywood idiots demanding Joe Biden call a ceasefire. Stewart is Jewish and was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz yet legally changed his name because in his words Leibowitz sounded “Too Hollywood” of course here Hollywood is code for “Too Jewish.” When you’re trying to make it in Hollywood nothing could possibly be too Hollywood but for bigots you can be “Too Jewish” Stewart has passive aggressively called for the end of Israel the only Jewish state. Stewart didn’t have a problem with the Weinstein’s who are Jewish trying to build his career in Hollywood. Stewart quickly distanced himself from Harvey Weinstein but there’s no way that Stewart wasn’t aware of much of Weinstein’s bullying and abusive tactics. When they stopped working for him that’s when Stewart and many others who got rich and famous with Miramax finally turned-on Harvey. But they were nowhere when Weinstein’s victims actually needed it. Jon looked quite cozy with Harvey Weinstein even leading up to the stories about him sexually harassing and abusing women started to come out. At the tribute to comedian Don Rickles. Harvey Weinstein can be seen yucking it up and sucking it up with and hugging and kissing on all the presenters including Jon Stewart. Jon only bailed as the stories became so big and the accusations so many that it all started to bury Weinstein. Stewart, Tarantino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and many other stars of today who began their careers which flourished because of Miramax were awfully quiet. Stewart has spent his return to the daily show nobody asked for attacking Joe Biden and enabling Donald Trump by considering the 2024 election as just between “two old guys” Now that Joe Biden has stepped aside Stewart will no doubt take his aim at Kamala Harris. Stewart is virulent sexist and needs to be able to take credit for pushing Democratic politicians or candidates “his way” Stewart is back with a camera crew following him around demanding more things for Joe Biden that Joe Biden already has planned to do down the road. Stewart demands nothing of Donald Trump or Republicans other than to let him promote himself on their shows from time to time. Stewart invited Fox News wife abuser, sexual assaulter and stone-cold racist scum Bill Oreilly back on his daily show to help him cover the very WWF RNC and make more hay of Donald Trump’s fake assassination attempt. What could be the value of platforming someone Bill O’Reilly? Who knows? There’s no value platforming someone like Jon Stewart.