Utah school books the wrong Jon Stewart

[Sonic Youth]

Utah school books the wrong Jon Stewart
Deseret Morning News


OGDEN, Utah — An embarrassed charter school has discovered it booked the wrong Jon Stewart for its annual gala. The DaVinci Academy thought it had made a deal with comedian Jon Stewart, star of "The Daily Show" and host of this year's Academy Awards, to appear next week.

It sent out 500 invitations to businesses and planned for 900 people.

But last week, it learned that it had booked Jon A. Stewart, a former motivational speaker, businessman and part-time professional wrestler from Chicago.

School leaders said that earlier in the year they had sent out invitations to a number of celebrities, speakers and authors for the school's annual benefit dinner.

A Stewart had responded, and through months of discussion there was no indication that they had not booked the Stewart they wanted, officials said.

But last week the Standard-Examiner in Ogden called Jon Stewart's publicist in Beverly Hills, and found that the only place Stewart was scheduled to be the night of the gala was on "The Daily Show."

DaVinci leaders were informed of that fact Friday.

"It's been a whirlwind ... but the community has really rallied around with support," said Debbie Legge, president of the school's board of directors. "It's not about celebrities. It's about kids and helping them get a good education."

After the school canceled Jon A. Stewart this week, performing groups from Weber State University and the Terrace Playhouse offered to be replacement acts at the event, and DaVinci welcomed them with open arms.

The school is offering refunds to those who had purchased tickets expecting to see the comedian. Some already have received refunds.

Legge said she hopes people still will attend the event, but notices will be sent to patrons about the change.