Stewart Jokes About Sanchez' Firing

"The Daily Show" host quipped about Sanchez' comments at a NYC event.

ByABC News
October 3, 2010, 11:29 AM

Oct. 3, 2010— -- Jon Stewart had some advice Saturday night for Rick Sanchez, who was fired from his job as CNN anchor after he called Stewart a bigot and questioned whether Jews should be considered a minority.

"If you went on radio and said the Jews control the media ... you may want to hold on to your money," Stewart said at Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars" at New York's Beacon Theater, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Later in the evening, Stewart said, "All he has to do is apologize to us, and we'll hire him back."

Fellow late night host David Letterman also put in an appearance at the event, which was a fundraiser for autism education, and made a reference to Sanchez' recent firing.

Letterman said he was in New York because he was "helping Rick Sanchez clean out his office."

Sanchez, the former host of CNN's "Rick's List," made the derogatory comments about Stewart and Jewish people Thursday on the radio show "Stand Up! With Pete Dominick" in reaction to a recent jab that Stewart made at him on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

When Sanchez reported that he'd received a tweet from House Republican leader John Boehner, Stewart called it a case of "send a twit a tweet."

"He's upset that someone of my ilk is almost at his level," Sanchez said of Stewart in an interview with Dominick, adding that he feels that Stewart is bigoted toward "everybody else that's not like him."

Sanchez, who was born in Cuba, went on to say that Stewart "can't relate to what I grew up with," and said how, as he was growing up, his family was poor and his father was the victim of prejudice.

Dominick, who is also a CNN contributor and was once the warm-up comic for "The Daily Show," pointed out that Stewart, who is Jewish, comes from a minority group. Sanchez dismissed the notion.