Hasan Minhaj’s ‘Patriot Act’ has been cancelled

Comedian Hasan Minhaj has been a force on television for quite a while, but it looks like he's now going to have to find a new TV home. Patriot Act, Minhaj's weekly political comedy talk show on Netflix has had some absolutely iconic episodes, eviscerating everyone from the Saudi Arabian royalty to, uh, a little known Prime Minister named Justin Trudeau. But alas, the dream has ended, as Hasan officially announced via Twitter that the show has been cancelled despite winning both an Emmy and a Peabody during its run. 2020 is ruthless, ya’ll!“What a run,” Minhaj tweeted on August 18^th. “I got to work with the best writers, producers, researchers, and animators in the game. My 2 babies were born and grew up with the show." He's not kidding either—Hasan has documented his daughter's adorable Patriot Act viewing sessions on IG.

What a run. @patriotact has come to an end. I got to work with the best writers, producers, researchers, and animators in the game. My 2 babies were born and grew up with the show. TY to @Netflix and everyone who watched. Now it’s time to return these screens to Best Buy ? pic.twitter.com/4s4TrsKWe6

— Hasan Minhaj (@hasanminhaj) August 18, 2020

"I’ll miss the show, but I hear there’s a British guy who has one that is quite similar," Minhaj closed out the Instagram version of his goodbye post, reminding viewers that John Oliver's Last Week Tonight (available Mondays on Crave) still exists for a weekly dose of political commentary with a side of comedy. After all, Hasan's first big break came as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which is the very same springboard Oliver used to launch his show.Airing from 2018 until 2020, Patriot Act lasted for six seasons and aired a total of 40 episodes. In each weekly offering, Minhaj spoke about timely global political, societal, and cultural issues that went far beyond the borders of American politics. In a recent interview with Variety, Minhaj said of the show’s global bent, “It allowed me to break out of the cognitive framework of being in the late-night world with multiple Jimmy’s because I was not speaking to the North American audience anymore—I’m speaking to the world. When I’m doing a piece about the elections in the Philippines, or censorship in China, or Indian elections, or Saudi Arabia—there are more people outside of the continental United States that know about that stuff than people here in the States know about those issues.”Patriot Act made headlines in 2019 when the streaming giant Netflix pulled one of its episodes that highlighted the corruption and cover-ups of the Saudi Arabian monarchy and America’s ties to it, after the country threatened legal action.Minhaj also famously interviewed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in what seemingly was a fun and lighthearted segment that quickly turned on its head when Minhaj forced Trudeau to account for his continuing armaments dealings with Saudi Arabia.

Finish the sentence...https://t.co/6WUSGQjoZS pic.twitter.com/eiV5l3CLXA

— Hasan Minhaj (@hasanminhaj) September 3, 2019

The latest season of Patriot Act was postponed because of the COVID-19 global pandemic but finally began streaming in June. The entirety of the show will remain available for streaming.On the plus side, at least Hasan is free to do the White House Correspondents Dinner at the end of August now.