Whoopi Goldberg is defending fellow standup Hasan Minhaj from recent backlash.

While crowds often suspend their disbelief for the more outlandish premises from comedians, many believe Minhaj went too far by claiming in his 2022 special The Kings Jester that he once rushed his child to the hospital because of a feared anthrax attack.

Thats what we do, Goldberg said on The View on Monday . We tell stories, and then we embellish them.

If youre gonna hold a comic to the point where youre gonna check up on their stories, you have to understand, a lot of it is not the exact thing that happened, because why would we tell exactly what happened? Goldberg added . It aint that interesting.

Minhaj claimed in the comedy special that he once received an envelope containing white powder, which accidentally spilled onto his young daughter. He said he was assured by doctors after taking her to the hospital that the substance wasnt anthrax. He later doubled down on the story in an interview.

There are consequences for what you say and do, Minhaj told the Daily Beast in 2022 . And if it hurts the people that count on you the most, and someone who is so innocent like my daughter, Ive really got to reevaluate and examine what Im doing here.

Minhaj admitted in a New Yorker profile published Friday that this never happened, however, after the outlet confronted him with the lack of police reports or hospital records about the incident. The former Patriot Act host argued that hyperbole was inherent to the art form.