Hasan Minhaj isn't sweating the critics of his Celebrity Jeopardy! performance.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Minhaj justified the "passionate" performance that drew ire from viewers. "I was into it, and if you get it right, yeah, hang on the rim," he said. "The fans weren’t having it."
Fallon proceeded to read Minhaj some particularly scathing tweets and headlines about his time on the show, with one dubbing him Jeopardy's most annoying contestant of all time. "That one hurt because the show’s been on for over 58 years, and they’ve had 15,000 contestants on the show," Minhaj deadpanned. "Jimmy, I’m in the eye of the storm. And I can’t take it anymore, so I want to apologize to the fans of Jeopardy."
Minhaj then addressed the camera directly. "I want to take this moment to apologize. Jeopardy fans, look at me. I’m sorry I desecrated an American institution. I’m sorry I ripped your 7 p.m. linear TV pacifier out of your geriatric mouth. And most importantly, I’m sorry for trying to make Jeopardy fun."
He also blamed a "janky" buzzer for his erratic performance. "When you’re playing Jeopardy at home in your sweats, and you’re confident, and you got your plan with the shampoo or the remote [as a fake buzzer], you think you’re the shit. But you don’t know what that game does to you in the arena," he said, as Fallon rolled a series of clips that proved Minhaj had struggled with his buzzer.
"History will vindicate me!" Minhaj concluded.
Celebrity Jeopardy! airs Sundays at 8/7c on ABC.
People are talking about Celebrity Jeopardy! in our forums. Join the conversation.
Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.
TOPICS: Celebrity Jeopardy, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Hasan Minhaj