Back in this post, I said the following about the comedian Hasan Minhaj…
The Daily Show will return on October 16 with more of its on-air auditioning guest hosts. I would guess that Hasan Minhaj is no longer as high as he once was on the list of those who might get the job permanently. Mr. Minhaj, who I liked the few times I saw him perform stand-up, has been accused and has more or less confessed to telling stories from his life that were exaggerated to the point of being…well, if not lies then the next-closest thing.
True, most comedians do exaggerate or simplify true tales to make them shorter or clearer or more pointed or, most often, funnier. I think most audiences understand that but there's a line one can cross and Minhaj seems to have crossed it too far too many times. To his credit, he's confessed to his "crime" but that doesn't give him back all or even enough of his credibility.
I would like to formally retract that part of the post and replace it with a big "I'm not sure." The charges against Mr. Minhaj were first made in this article in The New Yorker. Minhaj has now released a lengthy video response which basically says, "Yeah, I exaggerated and changed some facts but it's nowhere near as bad as the piece in The New Yorker made it out to be. If you wanna watch his whole reply, here it is. Parts of it seem pretty convincing to me but you can and will decide for you…
The New Yorker has responded with a statement that essentially says, "We stand by our story." Like I said, you can decide whatever you want about this. That's if you even care at all and I can see where you might not. Heck, I might join you.
I said it looked to me like Minhaj had crossed the line far too many times but it now looks like to me that while he crossed it, he didn't cross it as far or as often as the article suggested. Maybe. I think I'll hide behind that big "I'm not sure" or maybe even a bigger "I don't care."