By Tony O'Riley-
Comedian Hasan Minhaj(picured above) put White House adviser Jared Kusher on the spot for his relationship with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman during his speech at the TIME 100 gala on Tuesday night.
Mega stars including Taylor Swift, Sandra Oh and Sophia Bush who walked the red carpet at last night’s gala were all present during Minhaj’s impassioned speech. The TIME 100 gala event celebrated the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Kushner, senior adviser to his father in law, President Trump. The senior adviser to his father-in-law, president Donald Trump, got a surprise roasting from comedian Hasan Minhaj, who called out Kushner for human rights in Saudi Arabia.
The occasion was to honour one of the hundred most influential people honored by Time magazine this year across entertainment, arts, journalism, activism, politics, sports, and more — was selected to make a toast at the exclusive soiree, held at the swanky Lincoln Center in New York City
CRAZY
“It would be crazy if — I don’t know, if there was just like 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, referring to Kushner’s reported use of WhatsApp to communicate with the Saudi dictator.
Comedian Hasan Minhaj call out on White House adviser Jared Kusher, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, for his close ties to Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was both brave and remarkable. He seized the opportunity during his speech at the TIME 100 Gala on Tuesday night to stress the importance of principle and indirectly embarrass the White House adviser for allegedly condoning the ill treatment of the Saudi prince
“I’m very lucky that I get to be here in America and I can make jokes about very powerful leaders, and I have the safety of being here in America,” Minhaj said. “We have a lot of incredible rights here in America and safeties that we take for granted oftentimes.”
The comedian made reference to activists like Loujain Al-Hathloul, a 29-year-old Saudi women’s rights advocate who remains imprisoned and has allegedly been tortured by the Saudi regime, deserve more praise than he does. (Minhaj made the TIME 100 list this year, and Al-Hathloul was a TIME honoree.)
He then turned his focus on the US government’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia and singled out Kushner, without naming him, by asking whether a “high-ranking official in the White House” could WhatsApp Prince Mohammed (commonly referred to as MBS) and ask him to release Al-Hathloul from prison. Kushner has reportedly used the encrypted messaging app to communicate with Salman.
“This is a very powerful room, I know there’s a lot of very powerful people here. It would be crazy if — I don’t know, if there was just like 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,’ but that would be crazy,” Minhaj said. “That would be — that person would have to be in the room, but that’s just a good comedy premise.”
White House Adviser: Jared Kusher