Jon Stewart and HBO are not going forward with his much-anticipated animation project, a setback for what was supposed to be the next step in his post-late-night career.

The network confirmed the end of the project Tuesday night.

Mr. Stewart, the former host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, was brought on in November 2015 to create digital shorts that would appear on the network’s digital apps like HBO Now and HBO Go.

But 18 months after signing the deal, the two have agreed to shelve it, saying that the project was significantly more complicated than both sides expected. Mr. Stewart signed a four-year contract, and he will remain at HBO to pursue other efforts.

“HBO and Jon Stewart have decided not to proceed with a short form digital animated project,” HBO said in a statement. “We all thought the project had great potential, but there were technical issues in terms of production and distribution that proved too difficult given the quick turnaround and topical nature of the material. We’re excited to report that we have some future projects together, which you will be hearing about in the near future.”