Jon Stewart to appear on Bassem Youssef's show

Thursday 20-06-2013 04:09 PM
Jon Stewart to appear on Bassem Youssef's show

Bassem Youssef and Jon Stewart - Photo from Facebook

By

Prominent American satirist Jon Stewart arrived to Cairo on Wednesday for a three-day visit where he will meet with Egyptian television host Bassem Youssef. 

Official sources said that Stewart will visit touristic sites and appear on Youssef’s “al-Bernameg” (The Programme), reported the Middle East News Agency.

Bassem Youssef, a 39-year-old heart surgeon turned television host, made news in April when the country’s chief prosecutor ordered his arrest on charges of insulting religion, undermining the president’s standing and disturbing public peace. 

Youssef, who hosts the weekly show al-Bernameg, became popular in the wake of the 2011 uprising when he appeared in YouTube videos that mocked the authorities and the events that the country was facing. 

His weekly show, which airs on Friday on the CBC satellite channel, is known for heavily criticizing the government of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.  

After Youssef's arrest warrant, Stewart dedicated a segment of his show to him, where he told Mursi, "By the way, without Bassem and all those journalists and bloggers and brave protesters who took to Tahrir Square to voice dissent, you, President Mursi, would not have been in a position to repress them."

Stewart, whom Youssef has admitted to being inspired by, also told Time Magazine, “Bassem Youssef does my job in Egypt. The only real difference between him and me is that he performs his satire in a country still testing the limits of its hard-earned freedom, where those who speak out against the powerful still have much to fear.”

Youssef has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart twice. 

facebook comments