Hasan Minhaj is an American comedian, writer, political commentator, actor, and television host. His comedic style, which uses satire and observational comedy, focuses on Indian culture, modern American politics, and his social life as an Indian American. Minhaj has received critical acclaim and recognition over the course of his career including an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and two Webby Awards. He was also listed in Time’s 2019 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
On 15 September 2023, The New Yorker released an article detailing instances of Minhaj allegedly fabricating or embellishing stories with false elements in his comedy specials. The article received extensive publicity. It also initiated conversations around the ethical considerations of the stories comedians tell.
Hasan Minhaj’s Early Life
Hasan Minhaj was born on 23 September 1985, in Davis, California. His Indian Muslim parents immigrated to the United States from India. After his birth, he and his father stayed back in the United States while his mother returned to India to complete medical school. However, three years later in 1989, his mother returned to the United States to give birth to his sister, Ayesha Minhaj.
Hasan Minhaj attended Davis Senior High School, one of the two high schools located in Davis, California. He graduated in 2003. Minhaj also attended college in Davis, going to the University of California, Davis which is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. In 2007 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.
Hasan Minhaj Has Had A Successful Career In Comedy
Minhaj’s career in comedy started from the interest he developed while in college. He became interested in comedy after watching a stand-up special for the first time, Chris Rock‘s Never Scared which premiered on HBO on 17 April 2004. Minhaj immediately jumped into stand-up by making regular drives from Davis to work in the vibrant comedy scene in San Francisco. By 2009, performed on NBC’s Stand-up for Diversity.
After being hired by Jon Stewart, on 19 November 2014, Minhaj joined The Daily Show as a correspondent. On 29 April 2017, he was the featured speaker at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. During the dinner’s traditional roast session, he criticized then-U.S. President Donald Trump who had boycotted the dinner. Minhaj’s first stand-up special, Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, premiered on Netflix on 23 May 2017. It was developed from his one-man show in October 2015, Homecoming King, which debuted Off-Broadway. The special won a television Peabody Award.
On 28 October 2018, he premiered a weekly show on Netflix called Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. The show ran until June 2020. In October 2022, he released a second special on Netflix titled The King’s Jester. He has also appeared in films and TV shows including The Morning Show, No Hard Feelings, and The Spy Who Dumped Me.
Hasan Minhaj Is Known For His Advocacy
Hasan Minhaj has also used his comedy to advocate for various social issues. His Netflix show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, often involved commentary on social and political issues and has been referred to as “advocacy journalism”. The show involved the use of jokes to highlight social issues such as police brutality, the impact of student loan debt on people, the rising costs of prescription drugs, and the importance of taking mental health seriously.
In his second comedy special, The King’s Jester, Minhaj talks about building his career to create a sense of justice which he lacked growing up in the United States as a Muslim kid. He shares a story about how a white man who converted to Islam, joined his mosque and gained the trust of the mosque community. Before it was discovered he was an undercover FBI informant. The special also highlights the Patriot Act. A law created after the 9/11 terror attacks, which the U.S. government used to coerce Muslims to falsely confess to accusations of terrorism.
He Was Involved In A Recent Controversy
On 15 September 2023, The New Yorker released an article in which journalist, Clare Malone detailed instances of Hasan Minhaj fabricating or embellishing stories with false elements in his comedy specials. Hasan told Malone that his comedy was 70% emotional truth and 30% exaggeration and fiction. This article generated widespread criticism of Minhaj. The article revealed that he had fabricated significant details of a story from Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King.
The story describes him ending a relationship with a white girl in high school after her parents rejected him because of his race. However, the article states he was never in a romantic relationship with her. The woman and her husband, who is Indian, faced harassment and threats as a result of the use of their photos in his show. Also, Malone’s article claims that the story about the white Muslim man who was an FBI informant was fabricated. In light of the controversy from the article, it was also alleged that during the run on his Netflix show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, Minhaj had limited the role of researchers in developing content. The article also claimed that he was also dismissive of fact-checkers. During the show’s run, several female producers also complained of abuse and harassment. Legal action was threatened but was settled out of court.
More than a month after the story broke, Hasan Minhaj revealed that the New Yorker article muddied the facts of the story. He provided evidence of this that included voice recordings from the interview as well as emails debunking the article. Minhaj also went on to explain his artistic process, explaining that while he embellished some of the stories in his stand-up, particularly the ones the New Yorker had highlighted, the stories are based on real-life personal events.
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