Comedian Hasan Minhaj seems to be biting the hand that feeds him, slamming Netflix for promoting Islamophobia with the series “Bodyguard” – something the comedian called out during his own Netflix series.
In the latest episode of his new late-night talk show series “Patriot Act”, Minhaj targeted what he calls “America’s obsession with oil,” pointing to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, a self-proclaimed admirer of Teddy Roosevelt.
“Roosevelt’s vision for our national parks was inspiring… you can’t idolize Teddy Roosevelt and destroy the environment,” he quips. “That’s like Netflix having the first Muslim talk show host and ‘Bodyguard’. Stay woke, Netflix!”
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Originally produced for BBC, the six-episode “Bodyguard” premiered on the streaming site to much fanfare last month.
But Minhaj isn’t exactly hating on the series, with Richard Madden as a bodyguard tasked with protecting a controversial political figure during a heightened terrorist threat in London.
“‘Bodyguard’ is good though, right? It’s so good, you almost forget about the Islamophobia. Almost,” Minhaj adds during”Patriot Act”, the weekly series in which he delivers a lengthy one-topic stand-up act. “You still taste it though, a little bit. ‘Why does he have to be so close to the bomb?’ But the drama is so gripping,” he muses. “Oh, to be white!”
“Bodyguard” creator Jed Mercurio previously defended the hit drama, urging audiences to make up their own minds.
“The other thing is, unfortunately, the reality of our situation is that the principal terror threats in the UK do originate from Islamist sympathizers,” he said in an interview with the Independent in September. “I do understand that’s different from the religion of Islam, but it’s the reality of who the perpetrators are of the majority of the offences. If the show were set in the recent British past, the attackers might be Irish republicans.”
Watch Minhaj’s “Bodyguard” remarks at the 16-minute mark in the video above.
