Who Is Hasan Minhaj's Wife? All About Beena Patel

Comedian Hasan Minhaj met his wife, Beena Patel, when they were freshmen in college

Comedian and political correspondent Hasan Minhaj met his wife, Beena Patel, when they were both freshmen at the University of California, Davis.

Minhaj studied political science, which has come in handy for his career — both on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and his Patriot Act show. Meanwhile, Patel studied neurobiology, physiology and behavior, later becoming a public health doctor.

Minhaj first spotted her at the fountain on the UC Davis campus, and their connection was instant. Fast-forward, Minhaj and Patel married in 2015 and moved in together in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, a short walk away from his work.

A few years later, they welcomed their first child together, a daughter, and a couple of years after that, they had a son.

So who is Hasan Minhai's wife? Here's everything to know about Beena Patel and her relationship with the comedian.

She’s a doctor

Patel is a public health doctor who holds a DrPH from UCLA. She is the executive director of the Vituity Cares Foundation, where she works to bridge gaps in healthcare to make it accessible to everyone. Her work focuses on bringing healthcare to communities in need in the U.S. and other countries like Tanzania.

Minhaj has publicly praised his wife's accomplishments in her work. In a recent Instagram post before the Vituity Cares Foundation's second annual virtual gala, he posted a sweet shoutout to his wife.

“Even though the world is burning, I’m so proud of Beena and the work she’s been doing this past year with @vituitycaresfoundation," he wrote on Instagram. "From homeless outreach clinics across the country, to mentorship programs, they’ve been working tirelessly to fight healthcare inequity.”

Vituity Cares hosts a mentorship program with a goal of inspiring BIPOC, who are underrepresented in healthcare, by matching mentees with an experienced provider, nurse or healthcare business professional. The foundation also has scholarship opportunities for low-income and underrepresented groups in healthcare, as well as high school partnership programs in Chicago and elsewhere.

In 2022, Jhpiego gave Patel its Visionary Award for her work through Vituity Cares. Minhaj shared a photo of himself and his wife, congratulating her on the achievement and writing, “I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

They met in college

Minhaj and Patel met as freshmen attending UC Davis in Minhaj’s hometown.

Minhaj included a nod to the UC Davis fountain, where he saw Patel for the first time, in the custom ring he had made for her in 2020. The prongs holding the main diamond were inspired by the UC Davis dorm, Thoreau Hall, where their relationship became serious.

In 2020, Minhaj shared throwback photos of himself and Patel on Instagram that he found when he was digging through their basement.

He proposed more than once

In an interview with Netflix Is a Joke, Patel teased Minhaj about how proposed to her: by buying a diamond without a ring.

“He spent all his money buying an engagement diamond, that when he proposed to me, it was just the diamond,” Patel said. “And he didn’t realize that he needed a ring too. He proposed with the [diamond] holder.”

“I was like, ‘I love the minimalism,’ ” Minhaj said.

Still, he made up for his mistakes in 2020 when he gave her an updated ring, custom designed with jeweler Zameer Kassam.

"I still can't believe that our story could be woven into a ring in such a meaningful way. It is so much more than a ring. It's an heirloom I can't wait to share with our kids,” Minhaj told PEOPLE.

Minhaj worked with Kassam to include several relationship milestones in the design, including 15 diamonds framing the ring to celebrate their 15 years together.

Other specific touches were the step-cut diamonds he chose to represent the panels of the Duomo and their romantic getaway in Florence, Italy, as well as a blue topaz inside that honors the birth of their daughter.

Perhaps the most special touch, though, is the lyrics to Minhaj and Patel's wedding song ("Everything" by Michael Bublé) that are hand-carved in Minhaj's handwriting inside the band.

"True effort is the sexiest trait in a guy, and when I saw this ring, I couldn't believe how much effort Hasan put into capturing our love story,” Patel said, speaking to PEOPLE about the ring. “The fact that Hasan took time out of his crazy schedule to do this for me makes me feel so special!"

They married in 2015

Minhaj and Patel married on Jan. 2, 2015.

In 2016, a year after the wedding, Minhaj opened up about his relationship with his wife and what living together was like. He told The New York Times about adapting his lifestyle when moving in with Beena for the first time as newlyweds.

“Beena and I didn’t move in together until we got married,” he said. “We kept it very traditional — Mom, Dad, if you’re reading this — so I had to evolve very quickly. I went from Scarface photos to family photos.”

He added: “I’d never had throw pillows in my life, but I’ve now become accustomed to them. And I will say that scented candles are really nice.”

In 2017, a video of Minhaj dancing at his wedding surfaced, which showed him and his groomsmen in traditional Indian sherwanis, grooving to “Saajanji Ghar Aaye” from the Bollywood movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

They share two children

Patel and Minhaj welcomed their first child on Feb. 24, 2018.

“Welcome to the 🌎 baby girl. God willing I’ll be with you every step of the way,” Minhaj posted alongside a picture of his newborn daughter’s foot in the first photo he shared of her.

On Feb. 16, 2020, Patel and Minhaj welcomed their second child, a son.

“Even in these crazy times there are so many beautiful moments,” Minhaj wrote alongside a photo of himself and Patel cradling their son. “Welcome to the world little guy. The Minhaj family grows, and according to Beena it’s done growing. But ya never know, shooters shoot."

Despite his jokes about stand-up, Minhaj brought his daughter out onstage during a stand-up performance.

“My favorite special guest. She crushed ❤️,” he captioned a video of his daughter running out to greet him onstage in front of an audience.

In 2021, Minhaj shared that he and Patel had fertility problems for years before starting their family and that he had to have surgery for a fertility issue before his son was born.

"It loaded the relationship with a lot of tension. We'd be sitting there really late at night having tough conversations — 'Are we gonna be able to have kids? Are we arrogant for thinking we deserve kids?' " he recalled, of their time before becoming parents.

"If you don't get this surgery, you can't have kids," Minhaj said his doctor told him before he underwent varicocele repair surgery to fix an issue with his blood and sperm count.

The surgery was successful; Minhaj and Patel conceived their son six weeks later.

She helps Hasan write his jokes

Minhaj credited Patel as a co-writer on his Netflix special, The King’s Jester. In 2022, he spoke to Character Media about his wife’s involvement in his comedy writing.

“She goes, ‘Write your ideas and perform them. Please do them at venues with 100 people or less, get the joke in working order and then present it to me. We can chat about it, I can tweak it, I can edit it, before you take it out to theaters and definitely before you record a special,’ ” Minhaj shared, showing Patel’s commitment to making sure his jokes are in working order.

“That’s a part now of my comedy writing and performing journey, I don’t just speak for myself, I’m part of a family, I’m part of a unit. Hopefully, I make them proud,” he added.

Hasan has also spoken about his wife in his stand-up, particularly about the history of her last name, Patel.

“Family means everything to her,” he said in The King's Jester, joking that “she has 961 cousins ... at this show tonight.”

“She’s a motel Patel, so that family s--- runs deep,” he said. “If you’ve stayed at a Hampton Inn, a La Quinta Inn, a Quality Inn, a Comfort Inn, a Super 8 ... you have been supporting this Patel Cartel.”

Patel seems to take his jokes well — she even added #PatelCartel to her Instagram bio.

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