Hasan Minhaj has made a name for himself in the comedy world. Shooting to fame as a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2014 to 2018, he received even more recognition for his critically acclaimed stand-up specials, “Homecoming King” (2017) and “The King’s Jester” (2022), as well as his Netflix show, “Patriot Act.” Minhaj has used his comedy to shed light on contemporary social issues, such as racism and Islamophobia. One of the ways that he does this is through his own experiences as an Indian-American Muslim man.
On Sept. 15, 2023, in now-famous New Yorker piece “Hasan Minhaj’s Emotional Truths,” Clare Malone ripped apart the details of his biographical comedy, alleged fabrications and embellishments and basically portrayed him as a lying piece of s*** who made up stories of racism to further his career. It is important to keep in mind this was at the time Minhaj was up for a position as the next host of The Daily Show after the departure of Trevor Noah.
Minhaj first responded in a brief statement shortly after the article was published, emphasizing that all the stories in his stand-up shows were based on real events from his life. He elaborated on that statement and responded to the allegations in a 21-minute video rebuttal posted on YouTube and Instagram. Minhaj laid out the elements of his routine and carefully analyzed allegations that were made in the article, focusing on three main stories that Malone claimed to be false: a prom rejection based on his race, undercover law enforcement spying on the Muslim community and an anthrax scare to his family. And Minhaj came with receipts — he provided recordings of the actual interview and details from emails and texts he supplied to The New Yorker. Many of the facts he provided were not included in the publication, and details of what he said were twisted to make Minhaj seem like a terrible person. Additionally, Minhaj didn’t deny that some embellishments were made to his comedy, and he apologized if he had hurt anyone because of that.
This piece shows how people of color are held to a higher standard, not only for their work, but also for having to defend themselves. Malone did not fact-check or critique the work of a pool of comedians — she only did so to Minhaj. In fact, I haven’t heard of a case of a comedian being fact-checked to the point where articles from big news sources are being written about them. Minhaj was held to a double standard — a double standard that white comedians don’t have to deal with. At the time the article was published, it cost Minhaj his credibility, support from fans and potentially his job as the host of The Daily Show. Although he has now gained support back, the factual truth is that it was implicitly racist to slander Minhaj’s name for an industry practice inherent to comedy.
The bigger issue at hand is how Malone portrayed him in the article. As a journalist, the factual truth is supposed to come first; instead, this article shows that it was Malone’s personal vendetta that ran the piece. The key parts of Minhaj’s stories were accurate — he changed a few details so that the audience could grasp the story more and really contextualize it. And that is not even the important part. The important part is that the instances of racism, Islamophobia and discrimination happened to him. He is talking about these stories in a funny, narrative way because that is what he does as a comedian. Comedians should be allowed to take creative liberties in their work. They are not swearing in a court of law; they are going on stage to tell stories and make people laugh. It is completely unreasonable to expect them to be 100% honest all of the time, and we should not be holding comedians as the central source of truth and information; rather, we should be looking to journalism for factual stories and information. Malone should have been 100% honest in her work and not left the essential details of the story out. When news sources don’t report stories accurately and journalistic integrity isn’t there, who can we trust?
Well said!