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Hasan Minhaj ( ; born September 23, 1985) is an American comedian and actor. Much of his comedy involves Indian culture and the modern American political landscape through the use of satire, observational comedy and dark comedy. His Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj won an Emmy Awards, a Peabody Awards, and two Webby Awards. In 2019, he was listed in Times annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
After working as a stand-up comedian and appearing in minor television roles, Minhaj came to prominence for his work on The Daily Show as its senior correspondent from 2014 to 2018. He was the featured speaker at the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. His first stand-up comedy special, , released on Netflix in May 2017, received positive reviews from critics and won him his first Peabody Award in 2018.
Minhaj left The Daily Show in August 2018 to host a weekly comedy show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, which debuted on Netflix in October 2018. In April 2019, he won his second Peabody Award for Patriot Act. Minhaj released his second Netflix special, Hasan Minhaj: The King's Jester, in 2022, and appeared in season two of the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show in a recurring role.
Following a New Yorker interview with Minhaj, the periodical published an article on how he embellished or exaggerated various anecdotes about being the victim of discrimination in his comedy specials and in other interviews. Minhaj responded to the reporting, establishing further context and providing fuller text from the interview in a YouTube video response.
In 2009, Minhaj moved to Los Angeles to perform on NBC's Stand-up for Diversity, on which he was a finalist. In 2011, he was recurring on the TV sitcom State of Georgia and starred in various roles on the MTV hidden camera show Disaster Date. Through posting on YouTube, he was cast as the host of Failosophy on MTV. In 2013, Minhaj appeared in guest roles on Arrested Development and Getting On. He hosted Stand Up Planet in 2013 and a web series, The Truth with Hasan Minhaj, in 2014. In 2014, he voiced Rabi Ray Rana in the video game Far Cry 4.
On June 18, 2016, Minhaj performed a set as the host of the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner. The set gained attention for his condemnation of the United States Congress' inaction in passing gun control legislation. On April 29, 2017, Minhaj was the featured speaker at the 2017 White House Correspondents' Dinner, where he took on the traditional role of roasting Washington, D.C. society, national politics, current events, the current president, the Washington press corps and the American media. He criticized U.S. President Donald Trump, who was boycotting the dinner, calling him the "liar in chief," and stating: "Only in America can a second-generation, Indian American Muslim kid get on the stage and make fun of the president." He also reminded the press to do their job, and added: "I want to thank all of you. I want to thank Woodward and Bernstein for inspiring a generation of journalists, and I would like to thank Donald Trump for inspiring the next."
Minhaj's one-man show, Homecoming King, debuted Off-Broadway in October 2015. The show featured a central theme of the immigrant experience in the United States today, illustrated with stories from Minhaj's life as a second-generation Indian-American Muslim. He later turned the show into his first stand-up special, , which premiered on Netflix on May 23, 2017. The special was filmed at the Mondavi Center at Minhaj's alma mater, UC Davis, in January 2017, and won a television Peabody Award.
In February 2019, Minhaj played on the "Away" roster during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at the Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In September 2019, he testified during a U.S. House Committee on Financial Services hearing on student loan debt.
On November 13, 2020, it was announced that Minhaj would join season two of the Apple TV+ drama The Morning Show in a recurring role. In 2021–2022, Minhaj performed a comedy tour across the United States that culminated in the release of a Netflix special The King's Jester in October 2022. In 2022, Minhaj voiced Riddler in the first Warner Bros.–Spotify Batman podcast, Batman Unburied. He is scheduled to reprise the role in the 2023 podcast The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark.
On October 30, 2022, Minhaj appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy!, where his animated and over-the-top reactions earned him the dubious accolade "most annoying contestant ever" by the show's longtime fans.
The article generated public debate about artistic license in stand-up comedy. The following month, Minhaj posted a YouTube video response, apologizing for having disappointed any fans with his artistic choices but also defending those choices as highlighting the broader "emotional truths" of threats to his family, FBI surveillance, and Islamophobia, which Minhaj has worked for years to combat. Minhaj considers the tone of the New Yorker article to be misleading, but he acknowledged:
Some criticism of Minhaj comes from the fact that reviewers previously considered his storytelling genuine enough to be a helpful force in the larger social justice movement. Critics have since argued that his embellishments risk undermining trust in him as a social and political commentator or blurring the line between narrative truth and deception. In his response, Minhaj vowed to be more considerate in future storytelling bits.
In October 2024, Minhaj released his third standup comedy special on Netflix, Off With His Head. In the special, he rebukes criticism from The New Yorker, describing the scandal as "dorky".
In June 2025, it was announced that Minhaj would be performing at Belly Laughs, a new comedy and food festival in Los Angeles.
On July 15, 2025, Minhaj and Ronny Chieng announced Hasan Hates Ronny | Ronny Hates Hasan, a co-headlining North American tour.
In January 2015, Minhaj married his longtime partner Beena Patel, whom he met in college. Patel received a Doctor of Public Health in 2013, and has since worked with homeless patients and is a management consultant for MedAmerica. According to Minhaj in his comedy special, The King's Jester, he and his wife dated for ten years before he proposed to her. Minhaj and Patel are both second-generation Indian Americans; she is a Hindu of Gujarati descent, and he is a Muslim of descent, something he discussed in his comedy special .
Minhaj and Patel lived in New York City until the pandemic, but have since moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. They have a daughter (born April 2018) Hasan Minhaj. Instagram. Retrieved on April 23, 2018. and a son (born February 2020).
Minhaj has spoken about his and his wife's struggle to conceive. After his wife convinced him to go to a fertility clinic, it was determined the issue was with his fertility rather than hers. Minhaj underwent a Varicocele procedure, after discovering there was too much blood in his scrotum. The couple was able to have two children.
In addition to English, Minhaj is fluent in both major registers (Hindi language and Urdu) of the Hindustani language. He is a fan of the Sacramento Kings, having grown up nearby. His son had a Kings-themed first birthday party, and he has considered becoming part-owner of the team. In October 2023, he criticized Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip and called for a ceasefire.
| 2010 ! scope="row" | True Stories from My Crappy Childhood | Himself | Short film |
| 2011 ! scope="row" | Moving Takahashi | Grant | |
| 2012 ! scope="row" | Indian Spider-Man | Hasan Peter Patel | |
| 2013 ! scope="row" | Good Son | Doctor's son | |
| 2017 ! scope="row" | Rough Night | Joe | |
| 2018 ! scope="row" | Most Likely to Murder | Amir | |
| 2019 ! scope="row" | Dads | Himself | Documentary film |
| 2023 ! scope="row" | No Hard Feelings | Doug Khan | |
| 2024 ! scope="row" | Babes | Marty | |
| 2025 ! scope="row" | Ajay Singh |
| 2010 ! scope="row" | The Wanda Sykes Show | WMZ Staffer | Episode: "1.8" |
| 2011 ! scope="row" | Disaster Date | Himself | 18 episodes |
| 2013 ! scope="row" | Arrested Development | Indian Medical Student | Episode: "A New Start" |
| 2014–18 ! scope="row" | The Daily Show | Himself (correspondent) | 103 episodes |
| 2016 ! scope="row" | Radio and Television Correspondents' Dinner | Himself (host) | TV special |
| 2017 ! scope="row" | White House Correspondents' Dinner | ||
| 2018 ! scope="row" | Champions | Ro | Episode: "My Fair Uncle" |
| 2018–20 ! scope="row" | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Himself (host) | 40 episodes; also co-creator, writer, executive producer |
| 2021 ! scope="row" | The Morning Show | Eric | Recurring role (season 2) |
| 2022 ! scope="row" | Hasan Minhaj: The King's Jester | Himself | Stand-up special |
| 2023 ! scope="row" | The Daily Show | Himself (guest host) | 4 episodes (week of Feb 27) |
| 2024 ! scope="row" | Hasan Minhaj: Off With His Head | Himself | Stand-up special |
| 2022 ! scope="row" | Batman Unburied | Riddler |
| 2023 ! scope="row" | The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark | Riddler |
| 2024 ! Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know | Host |
| 2014 ! scope="row" | Far Cry 4 | Rabi Ray Rana (voice) |
| 2016 | Chhaya CDC Award | Architects Of Change Honoree | ! style="text-align:center;" | |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Comedian | ! style="text-align:center;" | |
| 2018 | Shorty Awards | Best in Comedy | The Daily Show | ! style="text-align:center;" |
| Peabody Awards | Entertainment honoree | ! style="text-align:center;" | ||
| 2019 | Entertainment honoree | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | ! style="text-align:center;" | |
| Time | 100 Most Influential People | ! style="text-align:center;" | ||
| Webby Awards | Video Entertainment | "Deep Cuts" ( Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj) | ! style="text-align:center;" | |
| Special Achievement | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | ! style="text-align:center;" | ||
| Social Campaign for Television & Film | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | ! style="text-align:center;" |
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