Former Patriot Act host Hasan Minhaj revealed to Esquire the advice Jon Stewart gave him following a 2023 New Yorker profile which Hasan blasted as “needlessly misleading.” Stewart famously hosted The Daily Show from 1999 until 2015 before Trevor Noah took the reins.

Of the backlash and slander he received, Minhaj said, it "was painful, there’s no doubt about It…It was the first time I saw the speed and velocity of the Internet, how quickly a story can take off. That part of it was very new to me and disorienting.

Hasan Minhaj is crediting Jon Stewart for understanding his "painful" experience after his now-infamous New Yorker interview. The feature, which was published in September 2023, alleged the comedian embellished his stand-up act,