Hasan Minhaj Admits to Fabricating Stand-Up Stories, Including Daughter’s Anthrax Scare: ‘The Punch Line Is Worth the Fictionalized Premise’
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director In a new profile published by The New Yorker, comedian, former “Patriot Act” host and “The Daily Show” alum Hasan Minhaj admitted to fabricating details in past stand-up specials, such as 2022’s “The King’s Jester” that streamed on Netflix. “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” Minhaj said. “My comedy Arnold Palmer is 70% emotional truth — this happened — and then 30% hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.” One story Minhaj told in “The King’s Jester” related to an envelope with white powder that was sent to his home.
Naturally, he thought the powder was anthrax. According to the comedian in the special, the powder accidentally spilled onto his daughter and she was rushed to the hospital.
The doctor told him it was not anthrax. Later that night, he said his wife told him: “You get to say whatever you want onstage, and we have to live with the consequences.
I don’t give a shit that Time magazine thinks you’re an ‘influencer.’ If you ever put my kids in danger again, I will leave you in a second.’ ” However, Minhaj admitted to The New Yorker that his daughter was never exposed to the white powder or hospitalized.
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