After six strong seasons, Netflix has decided it will not renew “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj.” The show, which first aired back in 2018, resonated with millennials with its witty take on political and current events. Minhaj made the announcement earlier this morning via Twitter.
What a run. @patriotact has come to an end. I got to work with the best writers, producers, researchers, and animators in the game. My 2 babies were born and grew up with the show. TY to @Netflix and everyone who watched. Now it’s time to return these screens to Best Buy 😎 pic.twitter.com/4s4TrsKWe6
— Hasan Minhaj (@hasanminhaj) August 18, 2020
“Patriot Act” churned out 39 episodes over their six seasons, Variety reports. Recently covered topics on the show included the coronavirus crisis and George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police as well as students loans. The show also garnered some notoriety back in 2019 after Netflix removed an episode on Saudi Arabia from the platform.
The Saudis said it allegedly violated anti-cybercrime law, upsetting free-speech advocates, CNBC reported. The show was one of nine takedowns that came from government bodies. The service has taken down episodes at the behest of leaders in Singapore, Vietnam, Germany and New Zealand in addition to Saudi Arabia.
In a previous post, a Netflix spokesperson told The Streamable by email that “these are not casual requests” and are more like “written government demands.”
“Netflix requires them to be valid, written legal demands from government bodies for us to comply,” the Netflix spokesperson wrote. “An example of where Netflix pushed back was in Brazil, where a lower court ruled the company should take down ‘The First Temptation of Christ.’ We appealed to the Supreme Court and won.”
During its two year bout, “Patriot Act” won an Emmy and Peabody Award. The entire show will continue to be available on Netflix, according to Variety.