Utah School Gets Wrong Jon Stewart

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.

"They said they were going to have me talk to the students and later on have me talk to the parents," Stewart said. "From my Catholic school Chicago upbringing, I thought I was going to be in the rectory with coffee and cake."

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

Not so, says the Stewart the school invited.

"Very often I get e-mails intended for Jon Stewart from Comedy Central that are mailed to me. And the first reaction, and the first response that I do or my assistant, is 'Do you have the right Jon Stewart?'" the former wrestler said on CBS News' The Early Show.

"And I guess with some excitement and some naiveté, the school said 'yes, we have the right Jon Stewart. Can you make it on this date? Can you make it on this date?' Stewart told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

"But the funny part is in our correspondence we would write back 'Jon can't make it this date, he's got to wrestle in Phoenix.' Or 'Jon can't make it on this date, he's got to buy cars for his dad's automobile dealership,'" Stewart said.

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.

"They basically called up and apologized, thinking that possibly I was going to sue them or something like that," said the wrestling Stewart. "And I actually felt really bad for the students and for the faculty that are going to get blamed for this fiasco — which is really what it's turning into."

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.