Jon Stewart voted "most influential man"

Comedian Jon Stewart talks to reporters about late stand-up comedian George Carlin as he arrives for a gala honoring Carlin as the recipient of the 11th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington November 10, 2008. REUTERS/Molly Riley

Comedian Jon Stewart talks to reporters about late stand-up comedian George Carlin as he arrives for a gala honoring Carlin as the recipient of the 11th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington November 10, 2008.

Credit: Reuters/Molly Riley

By Kimberly Nordyke

Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:37pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jon Stewart has been voted the "most influential man" in a poll conducted by AskMen.com.

The "Daily Show" host topped the list of 49 prominent men from politics, sports, entertainment, technology and philanthropy, which was voted on by more than half a million AskMen readers along with the site's staff.

Rounding out the top five were Microsoft's Bill Gates, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Steve Jobs and Kanye West.

AskMen claims that "Daily Show" is "our youths' most trusted source of information and its host the most trusted man in America."

Stewart is expecting more than 100,000 Americans at his Rally to Restore Sanity, which is set for Saturday in Washington D.C. A satellite rally also will take place in Los Angeles.

Stewart's fellow Comedy Central late-night host, Stephen Colbert, came in at No. 11.

President Obama landed at No. 21, one rank below "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner and just a notch above chef Ferran Adria. Conan O'Brien was listed at No. 12, 27 spots above his late-night compatriot David Letterman.

Other notables included James Franco (No. 7), Jay-Z (No. 13), George Clooney (No. 18), designer-turned-director Tom Ford (No. 23), Eminem (No. 24), Ben Affleck (No. 25), Zach Galifianakis (No. 29), Old Spice guy Isaiah Mustafa (No. 30), Justin Timberlake (No. 33), Hugh Jackman (No. 36), Christopher Nolan (No. 40), Leonardo DiCaprio (No. 43), former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater (No. 48) and comedian Russell Brand (No. 49).

"These are the men history will remember as having defined 2010," according to AskMen.
Entertainment
Fashion
People
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (16)
Hawk196 wrote:
It’s sad that American youth are only looking to the Daily Show for their news and information.

Oct 27, 2010 6:53am EDT  --  Report as abuse
1ronbo wrote:
It’s scary that a comedian is looked upon by our youth as the most influential man and as stated in your article,”AskMen claims that “Daily Show” is “our youths’ most trusted source of information and its host the most trusted man in America.”
Has news become shtick? What are kids taught in school- punch lines?

Oct 27, 2010 10:36am EDT  --  Report as abuse
DaBear wrote:
Hawk196 I completely agree with you. I have three college age children and they don’t watch TV or read newspapers and the only “news” they do get is from UTube, South Park episodes and The Daily Show. No wonder Obama is targeting them so heavily, their world view is so limited and skewed to the left that they are easily swayed by fallacious arguments.

Oct 27, 2010 10:49am EDT  --  Report as abuse
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.
See All Comments »