Hasan Minhaj Out of ‘The Daily Show’ Host Race: Report

Hasan Minhaj is no longer a contender for the next host of The Daily Show, according to a new report.

Puck News’ Matthew Belloni told newsletter subscribers that Minhaj — who was a Daily Show correspondent before hosting Patriot Act on Netflix — was once the No. 1 choice to succeed Trevor Noah as Daily Show host.

“Minhaj would have been announced as the new TDS host this summer had the strike not intervened,” Belloni wrote, per TVLine. “Instead, both sides sat on the announcement, and then… disaster.”

In a New Yorker profile this September, Minhaj admitted to embellishing stories in his standup comedy, telling the magazine that his routines are “70 percent emotional truth — this happened — and then 30 percent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”

He added, “The emotional truth is first. The factual truth is secondary.”

Amid the ensuing controversy, former Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. — who was reportedly eyed for the hosting job, too — defended Minhaj.

“I don’t believe Hasan could never host because of his situation. I don’t necessarily agree with that,” Wood told Variety earlier this month. “I definitely think there is a place for him to clarify his intentions, but nothing about what Hasan did, none of it has to do with the content he presented on [Patriot Act]. Can he show up and do the job? I say ‘yes.’”

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Minhaj reportedly sought a meeting with Paramount Media Networks president Chris McCarthy to plead his case but found out on Thursday that he was no longer in contention for the Daily Show host job.

The late-night Comedy Central current affairs series has been rotating through guest hosts since Noah’s December 2022 exit. Upcoming guest hosts include Desus Nice, Charlamagne tha God, Sarah Silverman, and Leslie Jones.

Recent speculation suggested that Jon Stewart might return as Daily Show host — a position he served from 1999 to 2015 — following the demise of his Apple TV+ show The Problem With Jon Stewart.

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