Jon Stewart Tearfully Announces Death of His Dog Dipper on “The Daily Show”: ‘In a World of Good Boys, He Was the Best’
"My wish for you is one day you find that dog, that one dog that just is the best,” Stewart told his audience at the end of the show
Jon Stewart is mourning his family’s dog Dipper.
The television host, 61, got emotional on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show after he revealed that the loyal canine — whom his family adopted over a decade ago— had died over the weekend.
“Dipper passed away yesterday,” Stewart said as he choked up on the show. “He was ready. He was tired, but I wasn’t.”
“And the family, we were all together,” he continued. “Thank goodness we were all with him.”
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He also told the story of how Dipper first came into their lives after he participated in a fundraiser for the New York City animal shelter Animal Haven alongside his children Maggie Rose, 18, and Nathan Thomas, 19, whom he shares with wife Tracey Stewart. He noted that the kids were 6 or 7-years-old at the time, and they had baked cupcakes for the shelter.
“So as a little extra incentive, they brought out this 1-ish year old brindle pit bull who—” Stewart said while tearing up. “Got hit by a car in Brooklyn and lost his right leg.”
He jokingly placed a tissue box on the table before continuing, “It was the perfect idea, they put the dog in my lap. And we left that day feeling really good that we’d helped this great organization.”
“And we also left with this 1-ish year old brindle pit bull. We called him Dipper, and in a world of good boys, he was the best,” he added.
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He went on to explain that the canine had been a part of the “OG Daily Show dog crew” and recalled that every time he would come to the show to tape, Dipper “would wait” patiently for him to be done.
“And he met actors and authors and presidents and kings. And he did what the Taliban could not do, which is put a scare on Malala Yousafzai,” he jokingly added, while sharing a short clip of Yousafzai freaking out and turning the other way when she saw Dipper backstage.
Stewart tearfully smiled as he ended the show with a final message: “But boy, my wish for you is one day you find that dog, that one dog that just is the best.”
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“Here’s your moment of Zen,” he added before showing a clip of the three-legged pup playing energetically as he chased a ball of snow. The television host could be heard in the background happily teasing the dog, “Dipper, who’s got the ball there?”
The clip ended with Dipper appearing to bring the snow ball near Stewart as the show faded to black.
The Daily Show airs at 11 p.m. EST on Comedy Central.
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