Roy Wood Jr.'s hilarious plea on the Emmy stage goes viral

When Trevor Noah and the rest of the cast of The Daily Show took the stage to receive their Outstanding Talk Series trophy, Roy Wood Jr. must not have thought this is what would make him go viral.

When former host Noah said his speech and thanked the whole cast and crew for the award, Wood Jr. mouthed something, Deadline reported.

So what was he saying – er, mouthing?

“Please hire a host,” the former Daily Show correspondent said. And he confirmed as much on X (formerly Twitter).

“Chill fam, I was trying to do that in the low,” he posted.

Comedy Central, Roy Wood Jr. has a message

Wood Jr. responded to a user who called him out, saying, “We see you @roywoodjr at the #Emmys mouthing “Please hire a host” during the @Trevornoah Comedy Central acceptance speech.”

It included a seven-second video of the sometime TDS guest host slowly and clearly mouthing the words.

chill fam I was trying to do that in the low 😂😂 https://t.co/kW1AD4yxhN

— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) January 16, 2024

More than a year has passed since Noah left the show. Since then, Comedy Central has rotated guests and The Daily Show correspondents, former and current, as hosts. No one has been named as replacement yet.

After accepting the award, Noah told the press who gathered backstage he would “gladly come back and work with everyone” after he saw his former co-workers “here in the same place.”

However, he added, “When I see what my schedule is on Wednesday, I wouldn't do it.”

Noah effectively said he's not returning to host the show. Neither does he know who will succeed him on the show and permanently host TDS.

“When they announced that we won, I said, ‘Ahhh, who is going to replace me? I'm still thinking about that,” he said.

Before Wood Jr. left The Daily Show in October 2023, he was one of the names considered to take Noah's place. In an interview, he detailed the process of the search for a host. He said it was lengthy, but if he were ever offered the job, he'd have to do it his own way.

He told Sherri Shepherd on her show, Sherri, “The job of correspondent … It's not easy… It's not like hard labor but it is a mentally stressful job. So I want to make sure that I remove the stress from my space so I have space to figure out what's next for myself in case I'm not in that chair come January.”

Since Noah's departure, there has been a revolving roster of hosts sitting in that chair. Hasan Minhaj was rumored to be tapped as the next host, but a New Yorker profile that painted the comedian in a not-so-flattering light.

Until Comedy Central decides on a permanent host, fans will continue to echo Roy Wood Jr.'s plea.