Trevor Noah covers GQ‘s Men of the Year issue and inside, the Daily Show with Trevor Noah host talks about how this year has been “one of the most liberating years mentally and emotionally.”
“It freed me from a lot of the paradigms and anchors that I had created for myself,” Noah said.
The show also gives him a sense of purpose, which helps him fight his personal demons.
“Sometimes you wake up and you’re like, ‘I don’t want to do this today.’ That’s one of the greatest blessings that The Daily Show has given me. One of the best things for depression is routine and goal-oriented tasks,” he said. “Every day I have to make a show. Every day I have to finish the show. Every day I have to let go of the show.”
Noah also tackled the issue of systemic racism, exemplified by the murder of George Floyd. He told GQ: “I don't know what made that video more painful for people to watch. The fact that man was having his life taken in front of our eyes? The fact that we were watching someone be murdered by someone whose job is to protect and serve? Or the fact that he seemed so calm doing it, you know? One ray of sunshine for me in that moment was seeing how many people instantly condemned what they saw. And maybe it's because I'm an optimistic person, but I don't think I've ever seen anything like that, especially not in America.”
He added: “What I've learned in America is people don't like the complexity and the messiness of nuance. What I'm doing on the show is I'm just gonna speak my truth and appeal to fellow human beings and say, ‘Yo, man. A lot of things that we're gonna deal with in the world are messy and complicated.’ “