There are two sides to every story, and Hasan Minhaj is ready to share his in excruciating detail. On Thursday, the comedian released a 21-minute video in response to a New Yorker article titled “Hasan Minhaj’s ‘Emotional Truths,’” in which Minhaj admitted to embellishing certain stories about his experiences with racism and Islamophobia in his stand-up specials.
Prior to posting the video, Minhaj had released a lengthy statement addressing the New Yorker article by Clare Malone, maintaining that “all my stand-up stories are based on events that happened to me” and that he uses “the tools of stand-up comedy—hyperbole, changing names and locations, and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories.”
In the video, titled “My Response to The New Yorker article” and first published by The Hollywood Reporter, Minhaj doubles down on his claim that all of his stand-up material is based in truth, accusing The New Yorker of publishing a “needlessly misleading” story about him. Minhaj begins his video by addressing the conflict in the Middle East. “I know the news coming out of the Middle East right now feels devastating and hopeless,” Minhaj says. “And I’ve been asked by a lot of people to give my perspective on what is happening in the region.”
“I’ve also been asked, ‘Wait a second. Aren’t you a liar?’” he adds.
Minhaj proceeds to pivot to his current controversy, admitting that while it “feels so trivial” in comparison to world events, it remains “very serious” and “demands an explanation.” He claims that the New Yorker article made him look like “a psycho.”
“Underneath all that pomade, is Hasan Minhaj just a con artist who uses fake racism and Islamophobia to advance his career?” he asks. “Because after reading that article, I would also think that.”
Before launching into a detailed explanation of how he thinks The New Yorker misconstrued its interview, Minhaj offers an apology to his fans and says that he took “a beat” to respond to the allegations because he was still “processing” what had happened. “I just want to say to anyone who felt betrayed or hurt by my stand-up, I am sorry,” he says. “I made artistic choices to express myself and drive home larger issues affecting me and my community, and I feel horrible that I let people down.”
Over the course of the video, Minhaj attempts to discredit various claims in Malone’s article, providing recordings of his interview with Malone as evidence, while also admitting that he did embellish certain elements of the stories.
The New Yorker issued the following statement in response to Minhaj’s video: “Hasan Minhaj confirms in this video that he selectively presents information and embellishes to make a point: exactly what we reported. Our piece, which includes Minhaj’s perspective at length, was carefully reported and fact-checked. It is based on interviews with more than 20 people, including former Patriot Act and Daily Show staffers; members of Minhaj’s security team; and people who have been the subject of his stand-up work, including the former FBI informant ‘Brother Eric’ and the woman at the center of his prom-rejection story. We stand by our story.”
After sharing his perspective on three stories Malone pointed to as specific evidence of embellishment, Minhaj attempts to differentiate his work as a political comic on shows like The Daily Show and Patriot Act from his work as a comedic storyteller. “I thought I had two different expectations built into my work: my work as a storytelling comedian and my work as a political comedian, where facts always come first,” he says. “That is why the fact-checking on Patriot Act was extremely rigorous. The fact-checking in my congressional testimony, deeply rigorous…. But in my work as a storytelling comedian, I assumed that the lines between truth and fiction were allowed to be a bit more blurry.”
Chris Murphy
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