TV Debate: Did Hasan Minhaj NEED to give a Heartfelt Apology to Jeopardy for his behavior? Update: He lost the Daily Show because of it
- Thread starter playahaitian
- Start date
'Celebrity Jeopardy!' Fans Call Hasan Minhaj 'Most Annoying' Contestant Ever
The comedian certainly stole the spotlight.
Hasan Minhaj apologizes for 'Celebrity Jeopardy' antics: 'Sorry for trying to make 'Jeopardy' fun!'
Hasan Minhaj is offering his deepest, most sincere apology for showboating on a recent 'Celebrity Jeopardy' episode… kind of: 'You don't know what that game does to you in the arena.'
Comedians Respond to Hasan Minhaj Lying Allegations by Making Fun of Him
“Hasan Minhaj lying about his kid getting sprayed with anthrax is the funniest thing he’s ever done.”
Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths”
In his standup specials, the former “Patriot Act” host often recounts harrowing experiences he’s faced as an Asian American and Muslim American. Does it matter that much of it never happened to him?
Hasan Minhaj on ‘The King’s Jester’ Netflix Special and Doing the ‘Right Thing for the Wrong Reasons’
The former “Daily Show” correspondent and “Patriot Act” host opens up about the mistakes he’s made and attempts to reckon with them in his new Netflix special “The King’s Jester.”
Comedians Respond to Hasan Minhaj Lying Allegations by Making Fun of Him
“Hasan Minhaj lying about his kid getting sprayed with anthrax is the funniest thing he’s ever done.”www.thedailybeast.com
Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths”
In his standup specials, the former “Patriot Act” host often recounts harrowing experiences he’s faced as an Asian American and Muslim American. Does it matter that much of it never happened to him?www.newyorker.com
Hasan Minhaj on ‘The King’s Jester’ Netflix Special and Doing the ‘Right Thing for the Wrong Reasons’
The former “Daily Show” correspondent and “Patriot Act” host opens up about the mistakes he’s made and attempts to reckon with them in his new Netflix special “The King’s Jester.”
Minhaj insisted that, though both stories were made up, they were based on “emotional truth.” The broader points he was trying to make justified concocting stories in which to deliver them. “The punch line is worth the fictionalized premise,” he said.
There is so much comedy out there, so many stand-ups I haven't taken the time to watch but have planned to one day.
I wanted to watch this guy's stuff. I never will now. Seems like he's a fraud and his specials are a waste of time.
In his Netflix specials, he said, he was allowed to create characters and events in service of storytelling, to sharpen his social points. The “emotional truth,” he told me, repeatedly, was more important.
Remember when Stephen Colbert got so much acclaim for making fun of George Bush? If you had to sum up his critique in one word, the best one was a word he coined: Truthiness. "Emotional truth" is a weak millennial liberal feelings-based version of that.
Sherrilyn Ifill is genius but these miss the point:
Comparing obvious jokes to fake autobiographical non-punchlines is night and day!
Comparing obvious jokes to fake autobiographical non-punchlines is night and day!
Comedians Respond to Hasan Minhaj Lying Allegations by Making Fun of Him
“Hasan Minhaj lying about his kid getting sprayed with anthrax is the funniest thing he’s ever done.”
Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths”
In his standup specials, the former “Patriot Act” host often recounts harrowing experiences he’s faced as an Asian American and Muslim American. Does it matter that much of it never happened to him?
Hasan Minhaj on ‘The King’s Jester’ Netflix Special and Doing the ‘Right Thing for the Wrong Reasons’
The former “Daily Show” correspondent and “Patriot Act” host opens up about the mistakes he’s made and attempts to reckon with them in his new Netflix special “The King’s Jester.”
This sh*t cannot be a real thing
Seems like no one ever had fun in stand-up comedy, movies, or TV shows, Playa.
Always a scandal.
Always controversy.
This world is crazy. Unpredictable. Chaotic.
People getting cancelled left, right, center, past, present, and future.
I pray for all these individuals daily.
In reality, I couldn't give less of a fuck.
And THESE are fans gene Cisco wants me to LISTEN too?
Post of the night
It's just all so fucking stupid.
Attention is currency / controversy sells / everyone is outraged / and on and on / rinse and repeat, etc.
You can't blame entertainers and celebs who enjoy the perks of being rich & famous, but want no parts of Hollyweird / showbiz otherwise.
Life under a microscope & yet countless celebs still bring negative attention upon themselves by their own actions.
Bars of wisdom knowledge understanding bars
Whoopi Goldberg defends Hasan Minhaj for exaggerating stand-up stories
Whoopi Goldberg is defending Hasan Minhaj amid backlash for exaggerating his stand-up stories: 'That's our job,' Goldberg said on 'The View.' 'Sometimes truth and sometimes total BS.'
ew.com
So comedians now have be 100% truthful on stage?!
"Hey, so I walked into a bar the other night, asked the bartender for a whiskey and bought some drinks for 2 cuties at the other end. They said "Thanks creeper" and left. I ended up jerking off that night." - Louis C.K.
Is that still funny?
Hahaha
"Hey, so I walked into a bar the other night, asked the bartender for a whiskey and bought some drinks for 2 cuties at the other end. They said "Thanks creeper" and left. I ended up jerking off that night." - Louis C.K.
Is that still funny?
Hahaha
Strawman.
Nobody is saying "Comedians have to be 100% truthful."
Literally NOBODY is saying that.
Hasan Minhaj does political comedy. Blending news and real life with comedy to make serious points with humor. He's more of a Jon Stewart than a Louis C.K. He made up the news and real life parts, made himself out to be a victim with complete fabrications. Making up NON-FUNNY PARTS about racism, parts that were not played for laughs but that were meant to come across as telling deep truths about society. Nobody is coming for his right to make a punchline.
From the article, which you should read:
“He tonally presents himself as a person who was always taking down the despots and dictators of the world and always speaking truth to power,” one former “Patriot Act” employee said. “That’s grating.” A comedy writer who has worked for “The Daily Show” said that most comics’ acts wouldn’t pass a rigorous fact-check, but, if a show is built on sharing something personal that’s not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, the invention of important details could make an audience feel justifiably cheated. “If he’s lying about real people and real events, that’s a problem,” the writer said. “So much of the appeal of those stories is ‘This really happened.’”
Last edited:
Minhaj defended his fabrications as fibs in service to “emotional truth.” For someone in the running to be the next host of “The Daily Show,” that term sounds a little too much like Kellyanne Conway’s euphemism “alternative facts.”
Amid plenty of critics online, Whoopi Goldberg was one of the few major figures who spoke up for Minhaj, saying on “The View” that embellishing in the name of a larger truth is what comics do. But here is where some more context would be helpful.
Stand-up comedy was never expected to be factually accurate. Rodney Dangerfield, to be clear, got respect. In the setups for early jokes, Richard Pryor lied about having a Puerto Rican mother and living in a Jewish tenement. An old-school observational comic like Jerry Seinfeld has said all his comedy is made up, even his opinions.
But in the past few decades, with the rise of “The Daily Show,” which has blurred lines between comedy and the news, as well as the proliferation of confessional solo shows that depend on dramatic revelations that dovetail nicely with jokes, the form has evolved and so have audiences’ assumptions. And they vary wildly depending on the artist.
In Sebastian Maniscalco’s last special, “Is It Me?,” he told a story poking fun at a kid in his child’s class who identifies as a lion. Asked by The Daily Beast, he said that this wasn’t true, but that he used it because it puts “a mirror on society” — another kind of emotional truth. Minhaj’s inventions were part of the same tradition, one that deserves new scrutiny.
What makes Hasan Minhaj such a troubling example is that his style, onstage and often off in interviews, suggested we should believe him.
Minhaj is known for using visual aids the way a journalist would. He mixes clips of television news and photos from his life with a general tone of sincerity. The nature of his deceptions was peculiar. He didn’t invent stuff to make himself funnier. He did it to raise the stakes in the easiest, most self-regarding way possible. Lying in comedy isn’t necessarily wrong. But how you lie matters. Minhaj has told a story about his prom date reneging on the day of the dance because her parents didn’t want her seen in photos with a “brown boy.” He now admits to some untruths in this story, but not all, and left her perspective out. (The woman has said she and her family faced online threats for years.) This genre of fiction is a shortcut to sympathy, an unearned tug at the heartstrings. It’s not a capital crime, but it’s an unnecessary and risky one.
Lies involving real people should add a new sense of obligation. The problem with only considering the standard of emotional truth is that it can blind you to the impact on the actual world outside your emotions. You could say that the emotional truth behind the Patriot Act was that the terrorism of Sept. 11 required extreme tactics to feel safe, but that doesn’t make the legislation right. The truth is usually more complex than the way you feel about it.
Watching “The King’s Jester” now hits differently. In some ways, it’s more interesting than the first time I saw it, when it seemed mawkish. Some jokes, like his desperation for social media clout, seem like clues. And others come across as the work of a guilty conscience, like the moment when Minhaj faces the audience and says: “Everything here is built on trust.”
This is the truth. Every comic has an unspoken pact with the audience. The one Seinfeld has is different from Minhaj’s, and part of the reason has nothing to do with their intentions. Whether or not critics like me think authenticity is important, it does matter to the audience. So does honesty. And comics understand that. It’s no accident that many of the political comedians working today, especially on television, employ researchers from traditional news sources. Getting facts right matters, especially when the comedy is about grave social issues.
That’s not just because a comic’s credibility can take a hit. When stories told about racism, religious profiling or transgender identity are exposed as inventions, that can lead to doubt about the experiences of real people.
...
It’s OK to Lie in Comedy—But Not Like Hasan Minhaj Did
Lying in comedy is only forgivable when it serves the joke. Hasan Minhaj was only serving himself.
Hasan Minhaj Meant Something to Brown Americans. Was It All an Act?
Reporting by the New Yorker reveals the falsehoods behind the comedian’s work.
So people think all those 80's "So I was in Central Park last week and got mugged" jokes were real?
Hasan Minhaj Offers Detailed Response to New Yorker Story: “It Was So Needlessly Misleading”(Exclusive)
The comedian releases a 20-minute video to THR giving his perspective on the profile, which accused him of fabricating details in his stand-up.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
This definitely paints a better picture of him, but he still blends "true" events with made up bits. It's like being in a history class talking about the JFK assassination and then the next chapter about Area 51, Roswell and Bigfoot. To someone that doesn't know, you would think this is all true. Most bits are gonna be HEAVILY embelished, it's comedy not history.Hasan Minhaj Offers Detailed Response to New Yorker Story: “It Was So Needlessly Misleading”(Exclusive)
The comedian releases a 20-minute video to THR giving his perspective on the profile, which accused him of fabricating details in his stand-up.
^^^
that is to me is more telling about the MODERN AUDIENCE?
They want and EXPECT more veracity from a celebrity and comedian as opposed to an ELECTED OFFICIAL AND POLICE AND BANKS!
This is a comedy show - not a history class and as I have said before. Richard Pryor was not talking to monkey or at least the monkeys were not talking back to him. Comedy you are allowed to exaggerate.
Talking about racism and monkey conversations aren't one in the same. Also Richard had points in his comedy that were serious and almost seemed heartfelt.
Is this a bit or something serious? As a teenager this piece stopped me from using "ninja". Black and brotha is how I friendly address black men.
And the crazy thing is today if this happened, folks would get online poking holes in the story and saying it didn't happen.
Yes I am arguing both side of the point. Only because I have a respect and admiration for the comedic craft and as a comedian he deserves to make up or change aspects of a story/bit for the funny, but those bits weren't trying to get laughs.
Richard ended one special with what seemed like he had just shot up heroin. Why? Don't know or remember, but you weren't laughing. It wasn't for a bit
Richard Pryor was not just a comedian but a story teller - who story was more about pathos - he was dealing with demons and he often expressed the pain he was feeling with a comedic edge - similar to his contemporary Lenny Bruce who die off a heroin overdose -
Richard Pryor still remains my favorite comedian - that is why I find these modern day Black comedians so mundane because they are not talking about real things -
Folks is still trying to lock Cosby up, but Roy Moore is walking free, getting endorsements from Trump
Right, and I don't want you thinking I am arguing a single point with you. But you're not on point. What's a bit and what is serious commentary? Is there a line that you shouldn't cross cause you're giving serious commentary? Can you embellish serious commentary?
So if Hasan is doing the Daily Show for instance - a news show with comic elements - then you are right - his comedy has to be more credible and can not have stories such as being covered with potential anthrax powder and your kid was covered also - which didnt happen - but stand-up is different - you can exaggerate and embellish - with a news show - you cannot
So I think we agree - just differ along the edges
Similar threads
