Hasan Minhaj Says He “Saved” ‘The Daily Show’ After He Was Accused Of Fabricating Stand-Up Stories: “Have You Ever Failed So Bad, You Bring Back Jon Stewart?”

Hasan Minhaj came ready to joke about the tumultuous year he had in 2023 when he appeared at the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival on Thursday (May 2).

Variety reports that Minhaj and comedian Ronny Chieng were cracking jokes about The New Yorker‘s controversial report that reportedly lost Minhaj the chance to host The Daily Show.

“I’m surprised that Hasan’s able to do this show. I guess ‘cancelling’ is not what it used to be,” Chieng joked during the event.

Minhaj fired back from the crowd, telling Chieng, “You planted that story about me!”

The New Yorker piece fact-checked several anecdotes Minhaj shared in his past stand-up routines and found that he had fabricated some of them. At the time, Minhaj was considered the frontrunner to replace Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. The ensuing controversy lost him the host gig, but The Daily Show managed to recover with the return of Jon Stewart.

At the Netflix Is A Joke festival, Minhaj was able to laugh it off.

“Who the fuck fact-checks stand-up comedy? Only Ronny Chieng would set me up with some fucking mouth-breathing journalist,” Minhaj joked. “It was you.”

Chieng and Minhaj went on to talk about their time as correspondents on the show. After hearing Chieng mention The Daily Show, Minhaj joked, “A job you fucked me out of.”

He continued, “We’ve all failed in our lives, but have you ever failed so bad, you bring back Jon Stewart? I saved a dying institution. You’re welcome.”

In The New Yorker‘s report, Minhaj confessed that his comedy followed a certain formula: “Seventy percent emotional truth—this happened—and then thirty percent hyperbole, exaggeration, fiction.” He told the reporter that his anecdotes were rooted in an “emotional truth” that pointed to a larger idea he was trying to convey, noting that he felt like “the punch line is worth the fictionalized premise.”

He later released a video apologizing, but maintained that the report was “needlessly misleading.”

Former Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. confirmed earlier this year that Minhaj was the top candidate to take over the show.

“As far as I was told, Hasan was going to be the guy,” he said. “The New Yorker article comes out, and then the buzz is there’s a shift at Comedy Central in whether or not Hasan is still going to be the guy, which eventually turned into he’s not going to be the guy.”

Stewart has since returned to host the show Monday nights with a rotating panel of guest hosts filling in for the rest of the week.

According to Variety, The Daily Show‘s viewership has returned to its highest point since 2015 with Stewart’s return.

The Daily Show OG is set to stay on through this year’s presidential election.