Hasan Minhaj is defending his stand up after a New Yorker profile found that some of the details in his onstage anecdotes may have been made up.
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00:00 Hasan Minhaj is defending his stand-up after a New Yorker profile found some of the details
00:04 in his onstage anecdotes may have been made up.
00:08 Stories that the New Yorker found didn't necessarily play out as he presented them include jokes
00:12 involving one of his children and their possible exposure to anthrax, and an alleged interaction
00:17 with police and an FBI informant at his family's mosque when he was a teen.
00:22 In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter responding to the New Yorker story, Minhaj said in part,
00:26 "All my stand-up stories are based on events that happened to me.
00:29 Yes, I was rejected from going to prom because of my race.
00:32 Yes, a letter with powder was sent to my apartment that almost harmed my daughter.
00:36 Yes, I had an interaction with law enforcement during the war on terror."
00:40 He continued, "I used the tools of stand-up comedy, hyperbole, changing names and locations,
00:45 and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories."
00:48 Minhaj then added, "You wouldn't go to a haunted house and say, 'Why are these people lying
00:52 to me?'
00:53 The point is the ride.
00:54 Stand-up is the same."
00:55 The comedian made the comments after the subjects of those jokes denied certain details of his
00:59 recollections were true.
01:01 "My comedy Arnold Palmer is 70% emotional truth, this happened, and then 30% hyperbole,
01:07 exaggeration, fiction."
01:09 When asked how his approach to comedy might impact a possible hosting run on The Daily
01:13 Show covering someone like Rep. George Santos, Minhaj reiterated his previous statements,
01:18 telling the magazine, "The emotional truth is first.
01:21 The factual truth is secondary."
01:23 For more on this story head to THR.com and for the latest entertainment news and updates
01:28 keep watching The Hollywood Reporter News.
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