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Satirist Dan Ilic fired by Al Jazeera for applying for The Daily Show

ilicAustralian satirist Dan Ilic has lost his position with Al Jazeera after the network’s youth channel AJ+ fired him for using company resources in a video application for The Daily Show.

“(When I applied for the Daily Show) I literally bought a ticket for the lottery and got fired for it,” Ilic told Mumbrella this afternoon. “That’s show business.”

Ilic is known to Australian audiences as a presenter, comedian and filmmaker who has worked on shows such as Hungry Beast, Can of Worms and other TV local productions, before in December last year taking up the San Francisco based role with Al Jazeera.

“I got an audition for the Daily Show but I was going overseas and needed to get something down on tape, before I went, and so I used the work studio just to knock it out, and I didn’t think it would be a big problem but when I got back from overseas it was,” he said.

Asked what his next move would be after returning to Australia the comedian quipped: “I’ve been thinking about running for the Republican (presidential) primary and so I thought I might have a crack at that. If Ted Cruz is born in Canada then Commonwealth countries must be eligible (to be President).”

Ilic noted that he hopes to return to the US in the coming months. “I’ve got three projects I was going to do before I headed back to San Francisco… hopefully I’ll make my way back to the United States and try to find something.”

Asked if he had heard back from The Daily Show he said he had not, noting it was in the middle of a big “transition” at the moment from long time host Jon Stewart to Trevor Noah.

The satirist was also positive about his time with the international news network, which is headquartered out of Doha but which has been ramping up its presence in the US.

“What AJ+ are doing is really carving a path for what other media organisations should really be emulating. In the last years you have seen that with other media organisations following them.”

Nic Christensen 

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