Comedian Hasan Minhaj reflects on 'painful' incident: 'We were pretty much good to go'

Hassan Minhaj latterly got candid and talked about losing The Daily Show’s hosting following his interview with The New Yorker.

The controversy began when the news agency published the article in September 2023 and accused him of “embellishing” various “true stories” for his stand-up comedy shows.

Recently, Hassan was in conversation with Esquire, and he claimed that “We were in talks, and I had the gig, and we were pretty much good to go.”

Remembering the “painful” incident, he admitted by saying, “It was painful, there’s no doubt about it. It was the first time I saw the speed and velocity of the internet, how quickly a story can take off. That part of it was very new to me and disorienting.”

“The most painful thing is my wife and my parents. To see them hurt, to see them engage with ‘So I’m reading on the internet…’—that is so painful. I’m the eldest. I feel really, really sad that I let my parents down…I’m very lucky that they got to see many beautiful highs of my career,” he added.

Moreover, taking the allegation into account, The Daily Show alum articulated, "There were omissions and factual errors in The New Yorker article that misrepresented my life story, so I wanted to give people the context and materials I provided The New Yorker with full transparency."

He further cognized the intricacies attached to global issues such as racism and emphasized that “With everything that's happening in the world, I'm aware even talking about this now feels so trivial."

“Being accused of 'faking racism' is not trivial. It's very serious, and it demands an explanation," he highlighted.

In the midst of controversy, his contemporaries like Jon Stewart, John Mulaney, Roy Wood Jr., Ronny Chieng, and Ramy Youssef extended their support for him.

It is pertinent to mention that Hassan has missed the chance to host The Daily Show after Trevor Noah’s exit, but his stand-up special Off With His Head is set to be released on Netflix on October 22, 2024.