In a New Yorker article, Hasan Minhaj, a Muslim comedian who portrayed himself as a critic of racism and discrimination on the U.S. mainland was found to have exaggerated and outright fabricated many details and events that he had told.
The New Yorker reporter tried to verify the accuracy of many stories by contacting the people involved.
“In Minhaj’s approach to comedy, he leans heavily on his own experience as an Asian American and Muslim American, telling harrowing stories of law enforcement entrapment and personal threats. He has become a symbol of representation for many of his admirers. Clare Malone writes: “After weeks of searching, I could not confirm certain stories he told on stage.
She stated that Minhaj confirmed that many stories were false, but that he still stood by his work.
“Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” he said. “My comedy Arnold Palmer is seventy percent emotional truth — this happened — and then thirty percent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”
Minhaj told a story in which he claimed to have received an envelope filled with white powder. He was afraid he may have exposed his child to anthrax.
Anecdote number two was about a…
