Hot on the heels of wrapping up his week as a guest host on “The Daily Show,” Hasan Minhaj is set to host the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, hoping to move from political humor to entertainment-focused banter.
“I am very excited because I have spent so many years working on political satire. So whenever people usually see me hosting these kinds of events, I make fun of the president, the administration, the debt ceiling, some autocrat or dictator or analyze or give my opinion on some kind of geopolitical disaster,” he said. to TheWrap in a recent interview. “At this concert, the stakes are much lower and it means I get to have a lot more fun and can be goofy, goofy, irreverent and crazy, which is awesome.”
A major focus of the Spirit Awards is diversity. For this year’s ceremony, nominees were selected from more than 15 different countries based on guidelines that include “uniqueness of vision, original and provocative theme, economy of means.” Approximately 47% of all 2023 nominees are women and 34% are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). About 64% of the nominated actors are women and about 48% are BIPOC, while 41% of the nominated writers and directors are women and 30% are BIPOC.
“I am very excited and honored not only by the diversity of the nominees but also by the diversity of the breadth of their artistic expression,” said Minhaj. “And not just the types of movies, but also the filmmakers and the television writers and producers behind them, which is very exciting. I think it’s great.”
Minhaj is best known for his comedy special “Homecoming King” and the critically acclaimed political satire show “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” on Netflix following his stint as a “Daily Show” correspondent. In October, Hasan’s second hour-long comedy special, “The King’s Jester,” premiered on Netflix. In addition to being the guest host of “The Daily Show,” Minhaj previously headlined the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2017.
Looking ahead, Minhaj told TheWrap that he plans to launch a comedy tour focused on the 2024 election cycle.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of fodder and stuff to talk about and you can be sure it’s going to be comedy and it’s going to be storytelling and it’s going to get its late night shots and state of the world stories and I’m excited to do that,” he said. “So there will be more in late 2023 and early 2024.”
The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast live on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube channels.
