Jon Stewart’s Apple TV Plus show ends, reportedly over coverage of AI and China
Jon Stewart’s Apple TV Plus show ends, reportedly over coverage of AI and China
Sensitive subjects.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/6745228
TLDR: Apple wants to keep china happy, Stewart was going after china in some way, Apple said don’t, Stewart walked, the show is dead.
Not surprising at all, but sad and shitty and definitely reduces my loyalty to the platform. Hosting Stewart seemed like a real power play from Apple, where conflict like this was inevitable, but they were basically saying, yes we know, but we believe in things and, as a big company with deep pockets that can therefore take risks, to prove it we’re hosting this show.
Changing their minds like this is worse than ever hosting the show in the first place as it shows they probably don’t know what they’re doing or believe in at all, like any big company, and just going for what seems cool, and undermining the very idea of a company like Apple running a streaming platform. I wonder if the Morning Show/Wars people are paying close attention.
Bummer. That’s some weak and feckless megacorp bullshit. Just like something Stewart would cover, which is why this show was such a great power move. And yet? Infinite profit over all else, so never mind.
Look at John Oliver, he talks shit about HBO constantly. Do they care? Nope, because he has more Emmys than anyone could know what to do with. Respect your talent and reap the rewards. Pretty basic stuff, Apple.
Let this be the regular reminder that any time that a gigantic for profit corporation seems to be doing the right thing it's a mere coincidence and they are following their bottom line. The moment those two depart, they will look after their bottom line right thing be damned. There are no moral corporations.
Maybe those good things they do while are convenient to them are moral and bring real benefits and can be followed and celebrated, but ultimately they are a convenient mask to trick customers. So don't ever be loyal to a brand, be loyal to principles.
Damn that’s a real shame, no surprise Jon walked out. That man actually has standards, he don’t need the money he was there because he cared and wanted to put out a positive voice that analyzed the bullshit we all have to deal with and his platform enabled that perfectly, just like his work for vets and burn pits.
I hope he transitions elsewhere but keeps the content as-is
Meh, realistically I don't think Jon does it because he needs money.
He seems like the kind of person who does things because it's the right thing to do. So taking away his platform isn't going to make him go away or shut him up.
It might take a while for him to get another one but I'm confident this guy will be on his deathbed telling people in power they suck & should do better.
We need more people like him
Because we all know how easy it is to silence Jon Stewart.
Something tells me he could get more funding for a show with a gofundme than Apple+ is authorized to spend.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ahead of its decision to end The Problem, Apple approached Stewart directly and expressed its need for the host and his team to be “aligned” with the company’s views on topics discussed. Rather than falling in line when Apple threatened to cancel the show, Stewart reportedly decided to walk.
Good for Jon Stewart. He held the line even when the money people demanded that he compromise. Maybe a VP pic. I could see it.
another reminder that apple's "privacy, that's iPhone" is a marketing gimmick. they profit from surveillance and censorship in China1. elsewhere, this catchphrase has allowed them to suck Facebook's as revenue into their growing ad business, surpassing even tiktok in terms of ad revenue2.
they'll happily do pink washing, but will try everything do dilute labour rights3.
so, apple is just your average big tech. nothing exceptional about them(except for them suing regular people to oblivion4).
in case of hitting a paywall, either disable JavaScript, or use bypass paywalls clean.
1: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html
2: https://finshots.in/archive/apple-is-an-advertising-giant-almost/
3: a simple search result would lead you to many such cases: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=apple+labour+rights&ia=web
4: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/technology/apple-trademarks.htmlChanging their minds...shows they probably don’t know what they’re doing or believe in at all
undermining the very idea of a company like Apple running a streaming platform
I'm not sure in what way it was suggested that Apple was "different", but to clarify, companies don't do things for "ideas" they do things for profit. If it increases that profit, they "believe" in it, and if it doesn't, they'll kick it to the curb.
And not only is Apple no different than any other company in that respect, they are pretty much the top-tier example of it. They're a $2 trillion company, the biggest in the world. They didn't get to that point focusing on the greater good. Nothing is more important to them than their profit.
I've always found it ironic that that show was on Apple. A company which wholly embodies the cancer that lies at the root of all the problems he discusses. Namely capitalism.
I have often said that he would be muzzled before they would allow him to fuck with their bottom line, but it's seldom fun to be proven right.
Apple has always sucked Winnie's balls.
I didn't think my opinion of Apple could go any lower but I guess I was wrong.
Cancelled my Apple TV just now. Really enjoyed the show and not a ton of other content on there that actually came with the sub. If I’m going to have to pay anyway and you’re not supporting your good shows then what’s the point.
I’m seeing a lot of anonymous quotes and assumptions but not a lot of verifiable facts. Sure, creative differences may have existed, but did any meaningful number of people watch the show? Even in online communities dedicated to Apple TV specifically I can’t recall seeing anything other than perfunctory mentions. Nobody ever actually talked about this show. I feel like the show was probably already on thin ice with a questionable ROI, and some likely not terribly sensational disagreement pushed it over the edge. Makes more sense than Apple caring what he says about AI, since they’ve pointedly avoided the embarrassing hype train, and clearly aren’t going to engage in the sort of exploitative “all of your documents are now our training corpus” nonsense that he’s likely to actually criticize.
Jon Stewart is a national treasure.
i would totally help crowdfund a jon stewart show
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But ahead of production kicking off on the show’s third season, Stewart and Apple have reportedly parted ways over “creative differences,” and The Problem is coming to an end.
Though new episodes of the show were scheduled to begin shooting in just a few weeks, staffers learned today that production had been halted.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ahead of its decision to end The Problem, Apple approached Stewart directly and expressed its need for the host and his team to be “aligned” with the company’s views on topics discussed.
Rather than falling in line when Apple threatened to cancel the show, Stewart reportedly decided to walk.
The Times’ report doesn’t detail what about the show’s planned coverage of artificial intelligence and China prompted Apple’s executive leadership to butt heads with Stewart.
But considering how pointed criticality is a big part of what ultimately made The Problem With Jon Stewart a hit for Apple TV Plus and how maintaining a cordial relationship with China is crucial to Apple’s future plans for growth, it doesn’t come as a shock to see the show hit the chopping block this way.
The original article contains 283 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 34%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Yikes Apple, that’s not a good look.
It would be on brand for Stewart, but these last two weeks have thought me one thing: wait for confirmation and watch the development before reacting
Actual source: https://archive.is/GV0tU
Someone thought Apple was being altruistic by hosting Stewart's show? What the hell would you think that for?
Fucking cowards.
they were basically saying, yes we know, but we believe in things and, as a big company with deep pockets that can therefore take risks, to prove it we’re hosting this show
lol, they never said that. You were just being naive. They were after the money of people who like Stewart.
Oof. I got banned on reddit once for saying that stewart is no longer as good as i remember (but it was in a thread about some trans-issue so of course the mods went full hitler).
To be honest i don't understand what he was expecting to happen in such a highly sanitized garden as apple's. It's so clearly not made for him