Hasan Minhaj Responds To New Yorker Article, Saying It Made Him Look Like A “Psycho”; New Yorker Pushes Back
26.10.2023 - 23:23
/ deadline.com
Weeks after a New Yorker article alleged fabrications in his comedy standup, Hasan Minhaj is speaking out. In a 20-minute video posted on his Instagram account Thursday, Minhaj rejects allegations in the article, saying “it was so needlessly misleading.” You can watch the video below.
“With everything that’s happening in the world, I’m aware even talking about this now feels so trivial,” Minhaj says in the video. “But being accused of ‘faking racism’ is not trivial. It’s very serious, and it demands an explanation.
“To everyone who read that article,” he continued, “I want to answer the biggest question that’s probably on your mind: Is Hasan Minhaj secretly a psycho? Underneath all that pomp, is Hasan Minhaj just a con artist who uses fake racism and Islamophobia to advance his career? Because after reading that article, I would also think that.”
He continued, “I just want to say to anyone who felt betrayed or hurt by my stand-up, I am sorry. I made artistic choices to express myself and drive home larger issues affecting me and my community, and I feel horrible that I let people down.”
“The reason I feel horrible is because I’m not a psycho. But this New Yorker article definitely made me look like one. It was so needlessly misleading, not just about my stand-up, but also about me as a person.
He disputed the way the New Yorker specifically portrayed three stories in the article — the anthrax scare he talked about in his 2022 Netflix special Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester; the FBI informant story he shared in the same special; and the prom anecdote from his 2017 special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King.
“The truth is, racism, FBI surveillance and threats to my family happened, and I said this on the record,” he said.
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