Hasan Minhaj Lost ‘Daily Show’ Host, Jon Stewart Called Amid Backlash

Hasan Minhaj spoke to Esquire magazine for a novel cover story and recalled having a lengthy conversation with John Stewart amid the jokes dispute that cost Minhaj one of his dream jobs: structureing Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” It’s a gig Stewart comprehends well considering he served as the show’s structure from 1999 until 2015 and is currently back behind the desk once a week thcimpolite the 2024 plivential election.

Minhaj verifyed to Esquire that “The Daily Show” job was his, saying: “We were in talks, and I had the gig, and we were pretty much outstanding to go.” Then dispute erupted after The New Yorker rehireed a profile of Minhaj and fact-verifyed some of his jokes. It was uncovered that Minhaj had embellished cut offal stories for his stand-up acts and in the resulting response “The Daily Show” structureing gig “went away. That’s part of showbiz.”

Per Esquire: “In the aftermath of the story, Minhaj spoke with other comedians who are frifinishs and mentors. Mike Birhugelia and Ramy Youssef accomplished out. So did John Mulaney and Jon Stewart. He spent hours on the phone with them.”

“I recall Jon [Stewart] called, and he said, ‘Why the fuck are they doing this? And who does this profit?’” Minhaj said.

“It was agonizing, there’s no ask about it,” the comedian said about the response. “It was the first time I saw the speed and velocity of the internet, how speedyly a story can consent off. That part of it was very novel to me and disorienting.”

“The most agonizing leang is my wife and my parents,” Minhaj inserted. “To see them hurt, to see them join with ‘So I’m reading on the internet…’—that is so agonizing. I’m the eldest. I sense reassociate, reassociate griefful that I let my parents down…I’m very fortunate that they got to see many pretty highs of my atgentle. Watching them experience a agonizing moment, an embarrassing moment in your atgentle, I desire I didn’t put them thcimpolite that. That’s the hard part.”

Variety exclusively inestablished in August 2023 that Minhaj had materialized as a frontrunner to consent over “The Daily Show” as its finishuring structure follotriumphg the exit of Trevor Noah. Minhaj was one of cut offal guest structures who filled in after Noah’s exit as Comedy Central execs searched for a finishuring structure. The New Yorker interwatch rehireed in September 2023, and by procrastinateedr that month Variety inestablished that Comedy Central was uncovering up the search beyond Minhaj in the wake of response aachievest him.

In a statement to Variety made right after the story’s accessibleation, Minhaj said, “All my standup stories are based on events that happened to me … I employ the tools of standup comedy — hyperbole, changing names and locations and compressing timelines to inestablish delighting stories. That’s inherent to the art establish. You wouldn’t go to a haunted hoemploy and say ‘Why are these people lying to me?’ — The point is the ride. Standup is the same.”

Head over to Esquire’s website to read Minhaj’s cover story in its entirety.