Whoopi Goldberg stands up for Hasan Minhaj: We tell stories, we embellish them

Comedy, they say, is the art of taking reality and stretching it into something hilarious, something relatable, something that makes us laugh even when we're dealing with life's most absurd moments. This art form often treads the line between fact and fiction, and recently, comedian Hasan Minhaj found himself at the centre of a debate about the boundaries of comedic storytelling. Amidst this discourse, Whoopi Goldberg, a veteran in the world of comedy, has come to Minhaj's defence.

Goldberg, a co-host on The View, shared her perspective during a segment on the show, acknowledging the role of comedians in weaving narratives that may not always adhere strictly to reality but aim to entertain and evoke laughter.

Also Read |Hasan Minhaj's undoing: The deception beneath the laughter

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"That's what we do," Goldberg asserted. "That's what we do. We tell stories, and we embellish them."

She then shared a personal anecdote to illustrate her point, recalling a time when a reporter called her to fact-check one of her stand-up routines in which she claimed to have a degree from New York University. Goldberg explained that she promptly told the reporter that she did not have a degree from the university and had never claimed to, before realising that he was referring to one of her stand-up characters, Fontaine.

Also Read |Hasan Minhaj's comedy confession: Lies or creative exaggeration?

She highlighted the inherent nature of comedic storytelling. "If you're gonna hold a comic to the point where you're gonna check up on their stories," she continued, "you have to understand, a lot of it is not the exact thing that happened because why would we tell exactly what happened? It ain't that interesting."

Towards the end of the segment, Goldberg doubled down on her defence of comedians, explaining that much of what comics joke about has grains of truth but isn't meant to be taken overly seriously. "That's our job," she concluded, "a seed of truth, sometimes the truth, and sometimes total BS."

This spirited defence by Goldberg comes in the wake of a story published in The New Yorker that delved into parts of Hasan Minhaj's stand-up anecdotes, questioning their authenticity and highlighting elements that could not be verified. Minhaj responded to the scrutiny by saying that his comedic style relies on a blend of what he terms "emotional truth" and hyperbole.

In Minhaj's "70-30 formula," he acknowledges that seventy per cent of his material is grounded in genuine emotions and real-life experiences. The remaining thirty per cent is where he introduces exaggerations and fictional elements to craft his punchlines and engage his audience.

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