Trevor Noah Is Paying Daily Show Crew Furloughed by COVID-19 Out of His Own Pocket

Trevor Noah reminds me of Barack Obama in a lot of ways. He’s written a successful memoir about his upbringing and mixed identity, he’s extremely well-spoken and handsome with slightly protruding ears that somehow manage to make him look just more adorable, and he seems like the kinda guy you just can’t help but like.

But enough of my Trevor Noah fangirling (though if you’re reading this, Trevor, you should call me). You don’t have to take my word for it that he’s a cool dude. As first reported by Variety, the South African comedian has stepped up in a big way to support his coworkers on The Daily Show during the current COVID-19 crisis.

From Variety:

Noah has informed crew members that he will continue to pay their salaries until production begins to ramp back up in the television industry.

“These are the people who have been on the show with Trevor from day one and help him put on the show,” a source close to the production tells Variety. “Trevor is personally covering their salaries until the production business opens again. He respects his crew tremendously and feels it’s only right that they get thru this together.”

Noah has been recording his Comedy Central show from home since COVID-19 hit the states in a new format aptly titled The Daily Social Distancing Show With Trevor Noah, with some staff contributing remotely. However, due to social distancing rules in place in New York City, 25 crew members who’d usually be in-studio (camera operators, audio technicians, stage management personnel) have not been able to continue working on the program. Kudos to Noah for personally covering those crew members’ salaries.

If you’re a fan of The Daily Show, good news: the remote version will be expanded to 45 minutes, the first time in history that the franchise will run longer than half-an-hour according to Variety.

I’m not at all surprised that Trevor Noah is so responsive to people’s needs. Speaking of needs…

Trevor? Please call me.