Hasan Minhaj rips The New Yorker after critical profile
Comedian Hasan Minhaj slammed The New Yorker in a 21-minute video, rebutting elements of a critical profile that questioned whether he was a “con artist who used “Islamaphobia to advance his career.”
The 37-year-old “The Daily Show” alum, who admitted in the profile to embellishing details for his stand-up sets, including his 2022 Netflix special “The King’s Jester,” did what he called a “deep dive on my own scandal” nearly six weeks after the magazine published its article.
In the article entitled “Hasan Minhaj’s ‘Emotional Truths,'” reporter Clare Malone broke down the details of his biographical comedy around his experience growing up as a Muslim American and an Asian American.
“I’m aware that even talk about this now feels so trivial,” Minhaj said, noting how the Israel-Hamas war has dominated recent news.
“But being accused of fake racism is not trivial. It is very serious, and it demands an explanation,” he continued in the video posted Thursday, which was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Sitting at a desk with graphics displayed over his shoulder — in a “Daily Show” style — Minhaj provided evidence in the form of emails and recordings from his interview with Malone, as well as context, to explain why he exaggerated elements in his standup comedy specials, which he says the writer ignored.
As a result, he claims the profile left the impression he exaggerated elements in his standup comedy specials, which he rejects.
“Is Hasan Minhaj just a con artist who uses fake racism and Islamaphobia to advance his career? Because after reading that article, I would also think that,” he said, adding that he comes off as a “psycho” in the story.
One anecdote under scrutiny, which he told in a 2017 stand-up special, involved a sad story from his high school prom. On the night of the dance, Minhaj said in the special, his date’s mother told him on her doorstep that she did not want extended family “in Nebraska” seeing photos of her daughter, who was white, beside him.
The New Yorker reported that Minhaj’s so-called date turned him down days before the prom.
Minhaj, who was interviewed by Malone for her article, acknowledged in his video that there was no encounter at the doorstep as he had described, but he maintained that the girl’s mother “did really say that” a few days before prom.
“I created the doorstep scene to drop the audience into the feeling of that moment,” he said. Minhaj asserted that the magazine did not properly consider email correspondence between him and the girl that he said “showed my race was a factor in my prom rejection.”
In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Malone and The New Yorker said that they “stand by” the article, noting that it was carefully reported, included over 20 interviews, was fact-checked and that it included the comedian’s “perspective at length.”
“Hasan Minhaj confirms in this video that he selectively presents information and embellishes to make a point: exactly what we reported,” the statement added.
The profile spurred debate among comedians, critics and fans about to what degree audiences expect stand-up comedy to be factual.
In his video, Minhaj underscored that the fact-checking process on “Patriot Act” — which tackled subjects such as immigration, policing and affirmative action — as “extremely rigorous.” But, he said, he viewed his work as a “storytelling comedian” differently: “I assumed that the lines between truth and fiction were allowed to be a bit more blurry.”
The comedian also tackled another explosive anecdote he told in his 2022 stand-up special in which he said that he once opened a letter filled with white powder that fell on his daughter. He says in the special, he and his wife took their daughter to the hospital and discovered after hours in the waiting room that the powder was not anthrax, as they had feared.
In the rebuttal video, Minhaj confirmed The New Yorker’s reporting that he did not take his daughter to a hospital. He explains that she was nearby when he opened an envelope with white powder, explaining that the fabrication was meant to highlight and emphasize the “shock and fear” that he and his wife felt that day.
In another anecdote from his comedy special, Minhaj said he fell victim to the US government’s spying on Muslim communities in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. He told the audience that when he was a teenager, an FBI informant slammed him against a cop car while trying to entrap him at the gym.
In reality, Minhaj acknowledged in the video, his story came from being “physically harassed” while playing basketball by people whom he suspected were undercover agents.
“I wanted to recreate that feeling — that only Muslims felt — for a broad audience, the feeling of paranoia and vindication, tension and release,” Minhaj said of the embellishment, concluding, “That was my artistic intent.”
