A New Yorker feature published Friday detailed how comedian Hasan Minhaj almost totally fabricated all of the racial discrimination stories he has told throughout his career.
“In Minhaj’s approach to comedy, he leans heavily on his own experience as an Asian American and Muslim American, telling harrowing stories of law enforcement entrapment and personal threats,” the New Yorker describes of Minhaj, before detailing how these stories became a pivotal part of his identity for his fans. The issue is that almost none of them were true.
New Yorker writer Clare Malone even took time out of her work to try and confirm if any of his stories were true. And they’re not. Not really. “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” Minhaj told her. “My comedy Arnold Palmer is seventy percent emotional truth—this happened—and then thirty percent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”
So, whatever this story is, it’s basically a lie. And these fabrications just keep coming. In fact, there are so many fabrications throughout Minhaj’s work, that it sounds like he’s not even a comedian. He’s just a professional fabricator.
Good on Tulsi for calling out Santos. The American people aren’t stupid https://t.co/oxluWf4iaF
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 28, 2022
Most comedians make up stories for their stand-up. I have one friend who talks about his wife all the time in his specials, despite the fact he’s not even married. White lies like this, which help along a joke, are absolutely par for the course within comedy.
Lying about how you’ve been treated because of your race is utterly disgusting, especially given how many people have been murdered just because of their race throughout history. (RELATED: Apple Just Gave Us The Cringiest Climate Campaign I’ve Ever Seen. And It’s A Huge Lie)
It’s the kind of tacky and tasteless most of us expect from liberals and celebrities alike. Our current president will literally pull falsehoods out of his head to try and curry favor with crowds. Our current vice president does the same thing.
So, can you blame Minhaj? Yes, he’s clearly a manipulator, but he’s definitely not alone in his garbage. Let’s just hope that now we’ve smelled it, he and others will start cleaning themselves up.