The next Daily Show host will reportedly not be Hasan Minhaj. Puck News’ Matthew Belloni writes that the comedian and Daily Show alum—at one time considered a front-runner for the job—is no longer in the running.
According to Belloni’s entertainment industry newsletter “What I’m Hearing,” Minhaj has been told by execs at Paramount Global, Comedy Central’s parent company, that he would not be getting the Daily Show host gig vacated by Trevor Noah last year. “Minhaj would have been announced as the new TDS host this summer had the strike not intervened,” wrote Belloni. “Instead, both sides sat on the announcement, and then…disaster.”
Last month, Minhaj found himself embroiled in controversy after a New Yorker piece written by Clare Malone accused the comedian of embellishing various stories he’s told in his stand-up specials regarding his personal experiences with Islamophobia. Speaking to Malone, Minhaj admitted that some of his material was not entirely factual, claiming that “the emotional truth is first” and that “the factual truth is secondary” when it comes to his stand-up. “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” he told Malone. “My comedy Arnold Palmer is 70% emotional truth—this happened—and then 30% hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”
In a statement to Vanity Fair last month, Minhaj admitted to embellishing some of the stories, saying, “All my stand-up stories are based on events that happened to me.… I use the tools of stand-up comedy—hyperbole, changing names and locations, and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories. That’s inherent to the art form. You wouldn’t go to a haunted house and say, ‘Why are these people lying to me?’—the point is the ride. Stand-up is the same.”
After the controversy, The Daily Show reportedly went “back to square one” in its search for a host, announcing that when it returned after the writers strike, it would do so with a series of guest hosts. Earlier this month, longtime Daily Show correspondent and fan-favorite Roy Wood Jr. announced that he was leaving the show after eight years, leading some to believe he was also passed over for the full-time gig. Comedy Central announced that an official full-time host is slated to take over the desk sometime in 2024.
Minhaj—who joined The Daily Show as a correspondent under Jon Stewart in 2014—was well-received during his guest-hosting stint in February and March. Belloni alleged that Minhaj and his team at WME believed that they were close to closing the deal before the controversy erupted. “Not a signed deal, but he was the choice,” wrote Belloni, “they’d closed on all the financial details pre-strike, and only the papering remained.” Belloni singled out Paramount Media Networks chief Chris McCarthy as the one who ultimately decided to “move on” from Minhaj as host.
“Now the question is what, if anything, Paramount must pay Minhaj to go away,” wrote Belloni. Per Belloni, Paramount believes that the deal “wasn’t closed” and that “several outstanding issues remained.”
“Plus,” Belloni added, “if the deal was eventually papered, a standard morals clause would have been included—one that the behavior described in the article may have violated.”
Vanity Fair has reached out to Minhaj and Comedy Central for comment.