Posted in: Comedy Central, Preview, TV | Tagged: comedy central, Hasan Minhaj, the daily show

The Daily Show: Hasan Minhaj on Embellishing: "Emotional Truth" First

Actor & comedian Hasan Minhaj (The Daily Show) responded to a profile in The New Yorker claiming he embellished some of his onstage stories.

Published Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:15:07 -0500

by Ray Flook

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Actor, comedian, and Comedy Central's The Daily Show host Hasan Minhaj is responding to a new profile in The New Yorker that called into question the truthfulness of some of the details that Minhaj has shared while discussing his life onstage during his Netflix standup specials and other appearances. "All my standup stories are based on events that happened to me," Minhaj wrote in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "Yes, I was rejected from going to prom because of my race. Yes, a letter with powder was sent to my apartment that almost harmed my daughter. Yes, I had an interaction with law enforcement during the war on terror. Yes, I had varicocele repair surgery, so we could get pregnant. Yes, I roasted Jared Kushner to his face. I use the tools of standup comedy — hyperbole, changing names and locations, and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories."

In the profile piece that went live on Friday, The New Yorker noted serious discrepancies in a number of stories that Minhaj has shared in the past – including a claim that saw his daughter being taken to the hospital after being exposed to a white powder in an envelope that was feared to be Anthrax. In addition, the validity of Minhaj's anecdote involving an FBI informant who allegedly infiltrated the mosque that his family attended in 2002 was called into question – as were other stories, including one involving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman & the death of reporter Jamal Khashoggi and a joke about being rejected in high school. For his part, Minhaj admitted that while aspects are "made up," the stories/jokes have an "emotional truth" at their core. "I think what I'm ultimately trying to do is highlight all of those stories. Building to what I think is a pointed argument," Minhaj responded in the piece. As for how his philosophy would match up with the responsibilities of being the full-time host of The Daily Show, Minhaj emphasized that "the emotional truth is first. The factual truth is secondary." Following up, he added, "That's inherent to the art form. You wouldn't go to a haunted house and say, 'Why are these people lying to me?' The point is the ride. Standup is the same."

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