Paramount Global has informed Hasan Minhaj that he’s out of the running to host The Daily Show, Puck News reported Friday. According to reporter Matthew Belloni, Minhaj would have been announced this summer as Trevor Noah’s replacement behind the desk, were it not for the strike. Now, the two parties reportedly disagree about how firm their pending deal really was; Minhaj’s camp claims that the deal, although not signed, was closed, while Paramount Global says that multiple issues remained unfinished, including typical scrutiny like background checks. In August, Variety reported that Minhaj was a frontrunner for the role, but a month later, he’d reportedly lost that status following a New Yorker exposé that fact-checked anecdotes from his act and in interviews. In the article, Minhaj maintained that his stories reflected an “emotional truth.” Representatives for Minhaj and Paramount Global did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
