Comedian Hasan Minhaj has confessed to embellishing some of his stories in stand-up events to make his jokes more dramatic and funny. Minhaj, who appeared in the 2022 Netflix special The King's Jester, told The New Yorker that he has often exaggerated or invented details in his stand-up stories.
The comedian, however, insisted that they're all based on a "seed of truth," and he is not trying to deceive his audience but rather entertain them with his craft.
Minhaj, who is a former The Daily Show correspondent, told The New York Post in an interview, "My comedy Arnold Palmer is 70 percent emotional truth about what happened and then 30% hyperbole, exaggeration, and fiction. I use the tools of standup comedy hyperbole, changing names and locations, and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories."
"That’s inherent to the art form. You wouldn’t go to a Haunted House and say, ‘Why are these people lying to me?’— The point is the ride. Standup is the same," the comedian added.
However, netizens had mixed reactions to Minhaj's admission of fabricating some of his stories that were reportedly based on racism and anthrax.
One of the X (formerly Twitter) users wrote, "To be clear: I'm less disturbed by Hasan Minhaj making up bits for comedy than I am that he used one of those "exaggerated" bits to seemingly get back at a girl who turned him down in high school by implying her family was racist and using a picture of her and her husband."
Here, have a look:
Another user spoke in support of Minhaj and wrote, "I do think if white people are going to report on Hasan minhaj’s lies they need to also acknowledge the culture that would produce such lies — an industry that is very hard for brown Muslim people to succeed in if they’re not making it about identity and oppression."
Here are some other reactions:
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