The first time I heard about the New Yorker article was when I heard that Hasan Minhaj would not be getting the anchor spot at The Daily Show because of the article.
Before that, I had only seen a few episodes of The Patriot Act, had not seen his specials, and had not read the article.
After hearing the gist of the article I read genuinely confused why anyone would care. Comedians make things up for jokes all the time (I have yet to see anyone actually take Henny Youngman's wife). I could understand if this happened in The Patriot Act, but in a stand-up special, it just seemed weird to drill down on.
After watching this video, it really sounds like the article made Hasan out to be some sort of sociopath or something; and I really don't know why they would. I suppose it could've been for extra attention on the article, but it almost feels pointed the way the reporter misused quotes.