Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of The Daily Show, an American late-night talk show and satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 2015 to 2022. Noah has won various awards, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. He was named one of "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media" by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Born in Johannesburg, Noah began his career in South Africa in 2008. He had several hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and was the runner-up in the fourth season of South Africa's iteration of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. From 2010 to 2011, he hosted the late-night talk show Tonight with Trevor Noah, which he created and aired on M-Net and DStv.
In 2014, Noah became the Senior International Correspondent for The Daily Show, and in 2015 succeeded long-time host Jon Stewart. His autobiographical comedy book Born a Crime was published in 2016. He has hosted the Grammy Awards for six consecutive years, from 2021 to 2026, as well as the 2022 White House Correspondents Dinner.
Early life
Trevor Noah was born on 20 February 1984 in Johannesburg, Transvaal, (now Gauteng), South Africa. His father, Robert, is Swiss-German, and his mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is Xhosa.
Under apartheid legislation, Noah's mother was classified as Black, and his father was classified as White. Noah himself was classified as Coloured. At the time of his birth, his parents' interracial relationship was illegal, which Noah highlights in his autobiography Born a Crime. Interracial sexual relations and marriages were decriminalized a year after his birth, when the Immorality Act was amended in 1985. Patricia and her mother, Nomalizo Frances Noah, raised Trevor in the black township of Soweto. Noah began his schooling at Maryvale College, a private Roman Catholic primary and high school in Maryvale, Gauteng, a suburb of Johannesburg.
He grew up in South Africa in a multicultural environment, reflecting both his White and Black heritage. Raised in a devoutly Christian household, he was also exposed to aspects of Jewish traditions, including having a bar mitzvah celebration on his 13th birthday.
Career
2002–2013: Early work and breakthrough
In 2002, Noah had a small role on an episode of the South African soap opera Isidingo. He later hosted his own radio show Noah's Ark on Gauteng's leading youth-radio station, YFM. When he was 21 years old, his friends dared him to perform a comedy routine at a nightclub. He entertained the audience with humorous stories about his friends and his life. After that night Noah continued performing at comedy clubs, gaining recognition along the way. He dropped his radio show and acting to focus on comedy, and has performed with South African comedians such as Kagiso Lediga, Riaad Moosa, Darren Simpson, Marc Lottering, Barry Hilton, and Nik Rabinowitz; international comedians such as Paul Rodriguez, Carl Barron, Dan Ilic, and Paul Zerdin; and as the opening act for American comedian Gabriel Iglesias in November 2007 and Canadian comedian Russell Peters on his South African tour.
Noah hosted an educational TV programme, Run the Adventure (2004–2006) on SABC 2. In 2007, he hosted The Real Goboza, a gossip-themed show on SABC 1, and Siyadlala, a sports show also on the SABC. In 2008, Noah cohosted, alongside Pabi Moloi, The Amazing Date (a dating gameshow) and was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in the fourth series. In 2009, he hosted the 3rd Annual South Africa Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) and co-hosted alongside Eugene Khoza on The Axe Sweet Life, a reality competition series. In 2010, Noah hosted the 16th annual South African Music Awards and also hosted Tonight with Trevor Noah on MNet (for the second series, it moved to DStv's Mzansi Magic Channel). In 2010, Noah also became a spokesperson and consumer protection agent for Cell C, South Africa's third-largest mobile phone network provider.
Noah performed in The Blacks Only Comedy Show, the Heavyweight Comedy Jam, the Vodacom Campus Comedy Tour, the Cape Town International Comedy Festival, the Jozi Comedy Festival, and Bafunny Bafunny (2010). His stand-up comedy specials in South Africa include The Daywalker (2009), Crazy Normal (2011), That's Racist (2012), and It's My Culture (2013).
In 2011, he moved to the United States. In January 2012, Noah became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on The Tonight Show; and in May 2013, he became the first to appear on Late Show with David Letterman. Noah was the subject of the 2012 documentary You Laugh But It's True. The same year, he starred in the one-man comedy show Trevor Noah: The Racist, which was based on his similarly titled South African special That's Racist. In August 2012, he performed Trevor Noah: The Racist to sold-out crowds at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In September 2012, Noah was the Roastmaster in a Comedy Central Roast of South African Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr. In October 2012, he was the first comedian to premiere on the second season of Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand Up Revolution. In 2013, he performed the comedy special Trevor Noah: African American. In October 2013, he was a guest on BBC Two's comedy panel show QI. In November 2013, he was a panellist on Channel 4 game show 8 Out of 10 Cats and appeared on Sean Lock's team in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown in September 2014.
2014–2022: The Daily Show correspondent and host
In December 2014, Noah became a recurring contributor on The Daily Show. In March 2015, Comedy Central announced that Noah would succeed Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show; his tenure began on 28 September 2015.
Following his announcement as Stewart's successor, attention was drawn on the Internet to jokes he had posted on his Twitter account, some of which were criticised as being misogynistic, and others as antisemitic or mocking the Holocaust. Noah responded by tweeting, "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian." Comedy Central stood behind Noah, saying in a statement, "Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included... To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central." Mary Kluk, chairperson of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), said that the jokes were not signs of anti-Jewish prejudice and that they were part of Noah's style of comedy. Noah has faced further criticism after video clips of him joking about Aboriginal women and the Marikana massacre in old standup routines resurfaced.
After Noah took over from Stewart, viewership dropped 37%, and its Nielsen ratings fell below those of several other shows hosted by Daily Show alumni; however, according to Comedy Central's president, the Daily Show under Noah was the number-one show for millennials. James Poniewozik of The New York Times praised him and the show's writers, saying, "Mr. Noah's debut was largely successful, it was also because of the operating system—the show's writing—running under the surface". Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times described him as "charming and composed—almost inevitably low-key compared with the habitually antic and astonished Stewart." Other critics gave him less favourable reviews, with Salon writing, "Jon Stewart created a national treasure. Noah has dulled its knife, weakened the satire, let the powerful run free." Noah's platform on the show has led to three stand-up specials on Comedy Central and Netflix. By 2017, nightly viewership was less than half of what it had been during the end of Stewart's tenure; viewership among millennials remained solid, however, and Comedy Central extended Noah's contract as host of The Daily Show through 2022. He would also produce and host annual end-of-year specials for Comedy Central.
After France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Noah commented, "I get it, they have to say it's the French team. But look at those guys. You don't get that tan by hanging out in the south of France, my friends. Basically if you don't understand, France is Africans' backup team." The French Ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud, issued a letter condemning Noah's joke. He wrote, "Unlike the United States of America, France does not refer to its citizens based on their race, religion or origin. For us, there is no hyphenated identity, the roots are an individual reality. By calling them an African team, it seems that you are denying their Frenchness." Noah responded to the controversy, saying he did not intend to deny that the team was French, and instead to celebrate their African heritage.
In April 2017, Noah began developing a talk show for Jordan Klepper: The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, which premiered in September, and ran for one season. Noah also executive-produced Klepper, a primetime weekly docuseries, beginning in May 2019. In March 2018, Noah signed a multiyear contract with Viacom giving them first-look rights to any future projects by him. In addition to the deal, Noah would also be launching an international production and distribution company called Day Zero Productions.
His memoir Born a Crime was published in November 2016 and was received favourably by major U.S. book reviewers. Other than the author, his mother has a central role in the book, while his father is mentioned only occasionally. It became a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Newsday, Esquire, NPR, and Booklist. It was announced that a film adaptation based on the book would star Lupita Nyong'o as his mother. In July 2018, Noah and The Daily Show writing staff released The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library, a book comprising hundreds of Trump tweets and featuring a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham. In 2017, he made an appearance on the TV series Nashville. In 2018, he appeared in Black Panther and American Vandal.
Noah's May 2020 video "George Floyd, Minneapolis Protests, Ahmaud Arbery & Amy Cooper" has close to 10 million views on the Daily Show channel on YouTube. Noah stated that "The social contract is a contract that we sign as human beings with a society" and it grants citizens protection from each other and the government. Noah connects the idea of a broken contract to the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, the disproportionate impact the coronavirus had on Black communities, and the viral video of Amy Cooper in Central Park. Noah states that "if you uphold your end of the contract and the other person doesn't, then the contract is broken." Noah's video on the "broken" social contract is now one of The Daily Shows most popular videos.
Shortly after Noah's video on the social contract, writer and activist Kimberly Jones also made a video on the "broken" contract. Her video has 2.5 millions of views on YouTube. Jones appeared on the Daily Show (19 June 2020) Jones and Noah discussed subjects like "broken" social contract and Jones's book I'm Not Dying with You Tonight.