Who remembers when Ellen DeGeneres came under fire earlier this year following a series of workplace allegations levelled against her? It was July 2020 when employees of her all-time famous The Ellen DeGeneres Show came forward with a string of accusations on grounds of racism, workplace intimidation and other forms of misconduct. The long-running show faced flak for a toxic environment and workplace harassment, with the complaints ranging from employee layoffs after they took medical or bereavement leave to a black employee having racist comments levied at her to staffers being told not to speak directly to Ellen. Many questioned the irony of the host’s ethos of “being kind”. Now, popular comedian and talk show host Hasan Minhaj is being called out for similar reasons. In a series of old tweets that have now resurfaced on the micro-blogging site, here are the women who came forward with their ordeals:
- Sheila V Kumar
An ex producer on the show, she had to protect her account on Twitter after narrating her experience. “I have been reading all day about @prachigu and @amalykinz’ tweets on their former work places, and how much courage it must have taken to speak out. So, I’d like to join them and say, I have never been more unhappy than when I was working at Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj,” she wrote previously. “My tolerance for this industry is very, very high. I’ve worked at some difficult places. I’ve never experienced a work environment like Patriot Act.”
- Nur Nasreen
A lot of people have asked me to talk about Patriot Act. I avoided it because each time I relive the experience of being humiliated and gaslit, targeted and ignored, I sink back into days of depression. Tweeting this will probably not help me or anyone who has suffered.
— nur nasreen (@Nuri_ibrahim) August 20, 2020
But women braver than me already spoke up. The show was a necessary and important one, and I am proud of my work there to this day. I am also grateful for the opportunities it gave me.
— nur nasreen (@Nuri_ibrahim) August 20, 2020
But I wonder if it was worth the mental anguish I went through over my last few months there. I wish we still had Patriot Act. I also wish they truly practiced the progressive ethos they cultivated on screen. Then they would really deserve all your love.
— nur nasreen (@Nuri_ibrahim) August 20, 2020
The Pakistani news producer and writer, Nur Nasreen had a similar story to share. “A lot of people have asked me to talk about Patriot Act. I avoided it because each time I relive the experience of being humiliated and gaslit, targeted and ignored, I sink back into days of depression. Tweeting this will probably not help me or anyone who has suffered,” she tweeted. Nasreen added, “But women braver than me already spoke up. The show was a necessary and important one, and I am proud of my work there to this day. I am also grateful for the opportunities it gave me.” Speaking about the mental trauma she suffered while working for Minhaj, she continued, “But I wonder if it was worth the mental anguish, I went through over my last few months there. I wish we still had Patriot Act. I also wish they truly practiced the progressive ethos they cultivated on screen. Then they would really deserve all your love.”
- Iva Dixit
That show was not just one star’s brilliance and charisma. The people whose labor made it what it was were treated horribly, and I’ve watched my friends break down in real time from what they went through while working there. https://t.co/9hbhKsEzCt
— Iva Dixit (@ivadixit) August 21, 2020
So many tweets about P*triot *ct have been sitting in my drafts. Okay to mourn a good thing, but after the ubiquitous paeans to its greatness, all I’ll say is please interrogate your beacons of representation and how they behave once they acquire power and authority
— Iva Dixit (@ivadixit) August 21, 2020
The New York Times writer Iva Dixit also spoke about the reportedly horrific experience she and her friends were forced through. “That show was not just one star’s brilliance and charisma. The people whose labor made it what it was were treated horribly, and I’ve watched my friends break down in real time from what they went through while working there,” she said. Dixit added, “The people whose labor made it what it was were treated horribly, and I’ve watched my friends break down in real time from what they went through while working there,” before going on to add, “all I’ll say is please interrogate your beacons of representation and how they behave once they acquire power and authority”.
Camille
So proud of @SheilaVee for speaking up. There are many of us from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj who have been too afraid to speak out for fear of backlash. I won’t share my entire story quite yet, but I will share that I recently had my one year anniversary of quitting the show. https://t.co/WjGURLiXTg
— Camille (@kobitchke) June 9, 2020
I remember crying for two days straight prior to giving my notice and feeling like a complete failure for not setting out what I had come to do. I spoke to the head writer (now showrunner) about what went wrong and got a deluge of empty but placating words.
— Camille (@kobitchke) June 9, 2020
Since I’ve left, I’ve had time to think and realized that that conversation was all bullshit. Those who know me know I am not an angry person but talk to me about Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj? Girl, best to take a seat.
— Camille (@kobitchke) June 9, 2020
“So proud of @SheilaVee for speaking up. There are many of us from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj who have been too afraid to speak out for fear of backlash. I won’t share my entire story quite yet, but I will share that I recently had my one-year anniversary of quitting the show,” she recalled. “I remember crying for two days straight prior to giving my notice and feeling like a complete failure for not setting out what I had come to do. I spoke to the head writer (now showrunner) about what went wrong and got a deluge of empty but placating words. Since I’ve left, I’ve had time to think and realized that that conversation was all bullshit. Those who know me know I am not an angry person but talk to me about Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj? Girl, best to take a seat,” Camilla wrote on Twitter.
While some Twitter users have expressed disbelief and shock, others have lashed out at Minhaj. Here are a few reactions:
my heart just broke… gdi why must men suck :/ @youkainingenjoo https://t.co/XhXrh5yyCv
— ?( ?? • ? •)?? ???*? (@scorch766) November 25, 2020
brown men stay disappointing. https://t.co/lCDDcrh7cS
— ham yoyo ?? (@scifibis) November 24, 2020
bro, not hasan… https://t.co/s0pTYk8L5w
— bre | ? pinned tweet (@BreOfficially) November 24, 2020
Well this is both disappointing & predictable AF. https://t.co/WBCqM7W99l
— Up Top Chicken Box (@LeslieMac) November 24, 2020
funnily enough, feminists recommended his videos to me so i can watch 🙂
well, i always despised him and will continue to. https://t.co/dfjvjLSjbi
— meaner than my demons (@khxshx) November 24, 2020
WOC and desi women have been tweeting about the toxic work culture under Hasan Minhaj for months, but somehow it gets buried constantly. This piece lays it out. https://t.co/YyRcnWJjzt
— Sandhya Ramesh (@sandygrains) November 24, 2020
it’s always the men that make you laugh https://t.co/kBn4kGUInb
— baby daddy (@sadboihoursonly) November 24, 2020
Also, remember when he said the N-word casually https://t.co/CCQsgBU6TU
— Quantum Queerness – Penja Peppa, (@oheyzaz) November 24, 2020
once again proving that we should never idolise men, not even once https://t.co/LuUBRsvSNH
— Anjali. (@Anjalaaay) November 24, 2020
just when i thought i could trust him… https://t.co/MfdfCIuR5Q
— noah fence (@pempekluver) November 24, 2020
ahhhhhhh so Hasan IS just a regular toxic brown boy? disappointed but not surprised lol https://t.co/zZS3eqeGZ5
— bebo (@nonononie) November 24, 2020
celebrities suck and people will abuse power https://t.co/sQjscBnoW1
— gender mysterious (@mrlovegood) November 24, 2020
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Sangeetha Thanapal, activist and writer, documented the allegations directing towards the hypocrisy of Minhaj. Penning her thoughts on Medium, she wrote, “Where are all the progressive Desi organisations that lauded his episode on Modi but had nothing to say about women leaving his show in tears?” She went on to further criticise who she calls ‘Woke Desis’.” The columnist continued, “Woke Desis seem to be really selective in the types of Brown people they target. They will attack Tamil women but are silent about light-skinned North Indian men. Minhaj’s power and reach have made it so that he is near-untouchable, so much so that women openly talking about how they were treated did not get even one article in any of the many Desi mags that abound on the internet.” Activist Shireen Ahmed commented on Sangeetha’s article, writing, “Patriot Act was the first show that I watched and felt seen as a journalist and as a Brown Muslim woman. Sadly, the tweets that came out in the summer did not surprise me. I am thankful to the women who spoke up. I hear you, and I appreciate what you did. I believe you.”
