Expecting truth from stand-up comedy is ridiculous. For the most part, personal anecdotes presented as facts should remain generally grounded. However, there is really no harm in fudging timelines or characters to make the joke land. I believe most comedy enthusiasts would have no qualms about those baselines.

How far a comedian can push the line between truth and fiction — now, that’s a point of contention.

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Hasan Minhaj has found himself as the face of this debate. In September, The New Yorker published an exposé on Minhaj alleging a good portion of material from his two Netflix specials was exaggerated, fudged or fabricated.    

In the specials —  “Homecoming King” (2017) and “The King’s Jester” (2022) — Minhaj recounts stories from his life, including a white girl rejecting him on prom night, an FBI agent throwing him against a car and his baby getting rushed to the hospital because of an anthrax scare. As Clare Malone reported, these events — which are at the heart of his sets — had almost all their details fabricated.

The fabrications are an especially bad look for Minhaj, who has become known for his political commentary on shows like “The Daily Show” and “Patriot Act.” Maybe it’s not fair to Minhaj — that other stand-ups can fabricate without so much as a blink of an eye — but when he gained notoriety for his fact-based commentary, learning about the blurred reality of his storytelling work will undeniably make people question his credibility. In fact, Puck News reported that because of the article, Minhaj is no longer in consideration for the next “The Daily Show” host.

It’s also important to note that the stories The New Yorker points out as fictionalized (at least to some degree) involve Minhaj in dangerous situations stemming from bigotry based on his race and religion. While Minhaj said to The New Yorker that “the punchline is worth the fictionalized premise,” many of the “fictionalized premise[s]” are not created for punchlines but rather to stir emotions from the audience, as pointed out by New York Times comedy columnist Jason Zinoman.   

Minhaj describes the stories as “emotional truths” — if the facts aren’t 100% accurate, the feelings conveyed are.

Zinoman shares the dangers of such fabrications, writing, “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.”

On Oct. 26, Minhaj responded in a 21-minute video. In it, he called the article “misleading” and attempted to add context. He also said that although the exact details of his stories may be fabricated, the Islamophobia and racism he has experienced are real.

In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, Malone and The New Yorker stand by their story and fact-checking. The “Emotional Truths” article is almost certainly correct in its assertions of falsities. Minhaj’s response, although providing some more information about the situation, does not combat what is in the article. It’s an unflattering piece, for sure, but the validity of the claims seem to be tight.

I don’t entirely know how to feel about the situation. Minhaj is an undeniably talented writer and performer. His sets, with their “emotional truths,” are sharp, tight and brilliant examples of using comedy to spread a message and awareness. He knows how to talk to an audience, how to bring them along on a journey — which ultimately is why some fans felt betrayed by the discoverings of the New Yorker story.

If the specials were more clearly presented as a fictitious work, would the specials be as powerful? Probably not, interviewees of the New Yorker article agree. Is the end product of an admittedly excellent show worth the manipulation? 

The student journalist in me clearly sides with Malone, Zinoman and the countless others who have covered this debacle. Truth and transparency are important; the work of The New Yorker was incredibly thorough and eye-opening. However, the comedy fan in me wants to overlook the situation. To fully believe that because it is comedy, however falsified the work may be, everything is OK in the creation of art.

I’ll leave the story with a quote from “The King’s Jester” that has been haunting me for days.

“I want to perform for reasonable people,” Minhaj said. “I want to be able to switch between satire and sincerity and trust that you know the difference. Trust that you won’t take me out of context. Everything here tonight is built on trust … You trust me. I trust you.”

Kimberly Aguirre is a junior writing about comedy. Her column, “Comic Relief,” runs every other Friday. She is also an associate managing editor at the Daily Trojan.