Roy Wood Jr. pleads for 'Daily Show' to hire new host at Emmys on 'the low'

Trevor Noah might've had the mic when accepting the Emmy for variety/talk series for "The Daily Show" Monday evening. But it's Roy Wood Jr.'s message that's making waves.

Behind Noah, who signed off from Comedy Central's news program in December 2022, Wood Jr. repeatedly mouthed "Hire a host."

Since Noah's departure, the show has seen a rotation of hosts that included other "Daily Show" staff members like Jordan Klepper and Ronny Chieng, as well as comedians Leslie Jones, Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman.

Wood Jr. announced his departure from the program after eight years in October, but told NPR if he were asked back as "Daily Show" host "you have to stop for a second and consider that."

Trevor Noah responds to whether he'd return to 'The Daily Show'

On Monday, Wood Jr. reshared a clip of his plea from the Emmy's stage on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, poking fun at himself.

"Chill fam I was trying to do that in the low," Wood Jr. wrote in response to a user's keen observation, adding a pair of laughing emojis.

Noah for his part briefly teased that he would return to his "Daily Show" seat backstage at the awards show.

"When I see everybody here in the same place, definitely. I would gladly come back and work with every single one of these people every single day of the week," he said in the Emmys press room. "When I see them, I would do it. When I see what my schedule is on Wednesday, I would not."

Since departing, Noah has continued performing standup on tour. Last month, he released his latest comedy special "Where Was I" on Netflix. In November, he premiered his podcast "What Now? With Trevor Noah," featuring an interview with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Emmy Awards: Roy Wood Jr. mouths for 'The Daily Show' to hire new host