Lizz Winstead

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Lizz Winstead (born August 5, 1961) is a Minnesota-born comedian who was co-creator of The Daily Show along with Madeleine Smithberg, and served as head writer. Then-host Craig Kilborn made an offensive comment about Winstead in late 1997, and behind-the-scenes tension led her to leave the program in early 1998. She later remarked that TDS became funnier after she left, which might be in part due to the work of current host Jon Stewart.

Winstead has made multiple appearances as a panelist on shows such as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and the public access/PBS program Mental Engineering (where she was notably featured in an episode that aired following Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002). In 2002 she and Brian Unger cohosted O2Be, a satire of network morning programs that was broadcast on the Oxygen channel. Until March 2005, she was a co-host of Unfiltered on Air America Radio, along with Rachel Maddow and Chuck D. On May 24, 2005, it was reported by the New York Post that Winstead was suing AAR for $300,000 in back pay.