Hasan Minhaj Jokes About Losing The Today Show Over Fact-checking Scandal

Hasan Minhaj is ready to laugh about the turbulent year he had in 2023. The comedian recently made an appearance at the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival and made fun of his fact-checking scandal that grabbed eyeballs last year. Comedian Ronny Chieng and Minhaj made jokes about The New Yorker's contentious piece, which apparently cost Minhaj the opportunity to anchor The Daily Show.

Hasan Minhaj addresses losing The Daily Show gig

Minhaj was alluding to a controversy that began after a New Yorker article sought to verify the accuracy of his stand-up routine. Prior to the scandal, Variety had exclusively revealed that he was the front-runner to take Trevor Noah's position as host of The Daily Show, but was fired after he confessed to lying on his comedy specials. He was replaced by renowned host Jon Stewart for Monday night shows, with various correspondents providing weekday anchoring.

At the Netflix event, Chieng questioned Minhaj‘s presence at the show and said, “I’m surprised that Hasan’s able to do this show. I guess ‘cancelling’ is not what it used to be.” Minhaj fired back from the crowd saying “You planted that story about me! Who the f**k fact-checks stand-up comedy? Only Ronny Chieng would set me up with some f**king mouth-breathing journalist,” he joked. “It was you.”

Hasan Minhaj fired from The Today Show

For the unversed, Hasan Minhaj was all set to be brought in as the new host of The Today Show. What could have been a key milestone in his career, was derailed in the aftermath of a The New Yorker piece categorically claiming that the show's former correspondent fabricated autobiographical details of his comedy.

In 2022, in a stand up Minhaj claimed that he once opened a letter filled with white powder that fell on his daughter. Fearing that it was anthrax, he and his wife Beena Patel took their daughter to the hospital before they learned hours later that it was not anthrax. The New Yorker report, however, noted that the anecdote was among others that had been exaggerated. 

Hasan Minhaj's reaction to the claims of his exaggerating and embellishing stories was to label the arguments as "needlessly misleading". The stand-up comedian drew parallels between the objective of what stand-up comedy attempts to achieve with the thrill that comes with say, visiting a haunted house. Minhaj also readily accepted that he does in fact use hyperbole as a seminal tool in his style of stand-up delivery.