Hasan Minhaj Lost ‘Daily Show’ Hosting Gig After Embellishing Facts In His Stand-Up: Report 

The Daily Show might be experiencing some successor turmoil. Nearly a year after Trevor Noah stepped down from his hosting duties, Hasan Minhaj was reportedly set to take over — until he became the center of a scathing New Yorker exposé last month.

While Minhaj didn’t have a signed deal to take over as host, he and his team reportedly believed that they had a “closed deal” for him to host The Daily Show, according to the most recent Puck newsletter. The comedian — who was a correspondent on the late-night show from 2014 to 2018 — allegedly came to an agreement with the network on all financial aspects before the WGA strike began in May, and “only papering remained.”

Puck reports that Minhaj would’ve been announced as the new host over the summer if the strike hadn’t happened. But because it did, everyone decided to hold off on making the official announcement.

However, things took a turn in September when The New Yorker was unable to verify certain claims Minhaj had made about facing discrimination in a post-9/11 world in his standup special, The King’s Jester. While he admitted to the outlet that certain anecdotes were false, he said they were based on “emotional truth.”

“The punch line is worth the fictionalized premise,” he explained. “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth. My comedy Arnold Palmer is seventy percent emotional truth — this happened — and then thirty percent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.”

After the report was published, Paramount Media Networks chief Chris McCarthy allegedly decided to abandon the plan to have Minhaj headline The Daily Show, per Puck. The actor reportedly asked for a sit-down with the executive, but got the official call that they wouldn’t be moving forward with him earlier this week.

While Puck points out that “offer and acceptance” is a contract “even without a formal signature,” Paramount still believes that the deal wasn’t closed. After all, Minhaj still had to submit for a company background check as well as another independent investigation given to high-profile employees.

Whether or not he is entitled to a payout remains to be seen — but according to the newsletter, litigators might need to get involved.

Decider has reached out to reps for Minhaj, but did not hear back by the time of publication.