--- description: Hasan Minhaj urged Jared Kushner to leverage his relationship with the Saudi Crown Prince and win the release of activist Loujain al-Hathloul. title: Hasan Minhaj Roasts Jared Kushner at the Time 100 Gala image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf56ab202e5af23e/698948f422fb85308ee282c7/time-100-gala-2019-hasan-minaj-jared-kushner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Updated: Feb 10, 2026Published: Apr 24, 2019 # Hasan Minhaj Called Out Jared Kushner to His Face for His Relationship With MBS at the TIME 100 Gala by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/) and [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  Hasan Minaj at the at the Time 100 Gala and Jared Kushner at the Time 100 Summit in New York City on April 23, 2019. Hasan Minaj at the at the Time 100 Gala and Jared Kushner at the Time 100 Summit in New York City on April 23, 2019.Getty Images (2) Comedian [Hasan Minhaj](http://time.com/collection-post/5567704/hasan-minhaj/ "undefined") used his speech at the TIME 100 Gala Tuesday to urge White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner to leverage his relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and win the release of Saudi activist [Loujain al-Hathloul.](http://time.com/collection-post/5567677/loujain-al-hathloul/ "undefined") Al-Hathloul, a 2019 TIME 100 honoree, is currently in prison after advocating for women’s rights in the kingdom. Seizing on reports from [House Democrats](http://time.com/5556373/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-private-email-whatsapp/ "undefined") that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law – who [was also in attendance at the TIME 100 Gala](http://time.com/5574144/jared-kushner-russia-mueller-time-100-summit/ "undefined") – had exchanged messages on WhatApp with Bin Salman, Minhaj suggested Kushner could help al-Hathloul. “I know there’s a lot of very powerful people here, and it would be crazy if there was a high ranking official in the White House that could WhatsApp MBS and say, ‘Hey maybe you could help that person get out of prison because they don’t deserve it,'” Minhaj said. “But hey, that person would have to be in the room. It’s just a good comedy premise.” Minhaj told TIME after the toast that he was sincere in this request, although he could not see Kushner’s reaction. “I was just hoping he could send a WhatsApp message,” he said. “\[It could say\] hey, this person has been fighting for civil liberties for all people. Maybe you should let them out of prison.” The comedian, who [was the host of the White House Correspondents Dinner](http://time.com/4760719/white-house-correspondents-dinner-hasan-minhaj/ "undefined") in 2017 and won rave reviews for his stand-up special _Homecoming King_ the same year, is now perhaps best known for his weekly Netflix series _Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj_, which returns for a third season in May. In the series, the former _Daily Show_ correspondent brings a comedic but critical eye to topics shaping the modern world, from civil rights to drug pricing. One episode, in which Minhaj criticized Saudi Arabia and bin Salman, was [famously pulled from Netflix](http://time.com/5491414/netflix-saudi-arabia/ "undefined") in Saudi Arabia — [which Minhaj said](http://time.com/5492139/hasan-minhaj-saudi-arabia-netflix/ "undefined") would only make more people watch it. _“Patriot Act_ is the manifestation of Hasan’s whip-smart commentary, charisma and sincerity,” _Daily_ _Show_ host Trevor Noah wrote of his old colleague for this year’s TIME 100 list. “It’s also a consistent reminder that Hasan is America. And America is Hasan.” Read the full text of Minhaj’s toast here. --- > “” --- Hasan Minhaj Calls Out Jared Kushner at TIME 100 Gala ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-gala-2019/5574438/hasan-minhaj-time-100-toast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-gala-2019/5574438/hasan-minhaj-time-100-toast/"},"headline":"Hasan Minhaj Roasts Jared Kushner at the Time 100 Gala","datePublished":"2019-04-24T03:43:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-10T04:38:58.000Z","description":"Hasan Minhaj urged Jared Kushner to leverage his relationship with the Saudi Crown Prince and win the release of activist Loujain al-Hathloul.","url":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-gala-2019/5574438/hasan-minhaj-time-100-toast/","keywords":["TIME 100","Saudi Arabia","onetime","2019 TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf56ab202e5af23e/698948f422fb85308ee282c7/time-100-gala-2019-hasan-minaj-jared-kushner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"creator":"Alana Abramson","articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf56ab202e5af23e/698948f422fb85308ee282c7/time-100-gala-2019-hasan-minaj-jared-kushner-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time-100-gala-2019/5574438/hasan-minhaj-time-100-toast/","name":"Hasan Minhaj Roasts Jared Kushner at the Time 100 Gala"}}]}] ```