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Speaking to an audience of her fellow SAG-AFTRA actors, Hannah Einbinder admitted it was “spooky” to watch Stephen Colbert’s cancellation mirror a plot line from her hit series “Hacks.” Einbinder made her national television debut doing a stand-up set in March 2020 on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and has returned as a guest over the years.
Einbinder, who recently won an Emmy Award for supporting actress in a comedy series, discussed how the fourth season was a love letter to late-night television, with Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance finally launching her own show. But the joy is short-lived as Deborah and her head writer Ava (Einbinder) soon find themselves compromising their integrity in different ways due to the network’s demands. Things come to a head in the May 22 episode “A Slippery Slope,” when Deborah is ordered to fire Ava. Rather than comply, Deborah shocks everyone by telling the audience the truth and loses her show.
Two months later, it was announced that CBS would not be renewing “The Late Show,” with speculation widespread that the choice was due to the host’s outspoken criticism of President Donald Trump. Two months later, fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show was abruptly suspended after he addressed the shooting of Charlie Kirk in his monologue. FCC chair Brendan Carr had threatened to pull ABC affiliate broadcast licenses and soon station groups Nexstar and Sinclair announced they would not air the show. Kimmel returned to the air days later, due in part to a massive public outcry.
The “Hacks” scenes were filmed at least a half year prior to the Colbert announcement, and Einbinder does say it was strange to see it unfold. “I think it was like, holy shit, this is really crazy and also spooky that it was specifically late night and specifically that type of censorship,” she noted. “It’s so bizarre.”
However, she added, in some ways, it was not unexpected. “Kind of observing the way that things have been going for quite some time, I didn’t find what happened to Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel to be a shock at all because of all the censorship that we’ve seen. Academics, journalists, students, have been fired or expelled, or, in some cases locked up for expressing their speech. So, watching that transpire in was in no way a surprise to me, unfortunately.”
Einbinder went on to praise show creators Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky for how the story was addressed and worked into the show organically. “I’m really proud of Paul, Lucia and Jen for handling that issue and for speaking on that and for doing it in a way that is beautiful and also earned within the narrative,” she revealed. “It’s not like forcing anything down anybody’s throat. It’s really justified and grounded in reality, as we know.”
Einbinder also hinted that in the upcoming season they are “similarly facing certain issues of the day, and it just makes me really proud.”
Einbinder also discussed how “Hacks” was her first acting job after started her career as a stand-up. She reiterated her love for the medium, but did admit there were some bumpy times. “I’ve felt pain, I have done it all,” she said. “I have been booed at a fucking saloon in rural Washington during a goddamn pool tournament. I’ve been at a goddamn motherfucking Holiday Inn Express in Laramie, Wyo., on Valentine’s Day, just fucking looking at the cottage cheese ceiling being like, ‘I should go back to my barista job. This is a mistake.’”
But when told stand-up comedy takes bravery, she responded, “I don’t know if it’s brave. I think it is a desperate act for desperate people — but I love it. I love the art form. It is so awesome and so pure and there. There’s nothing like being in a room with people and like sharing that.”
Watch Einbinder’s SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversation below.
English (US) ·