Life imitated art for Hacks stars Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart at the 2024 Emmys.
Sunday night’s awards ceremony featured a moment that could have been lifted right out of a Hacks script for the two actors — and it was totally hilarious because of how authentic it was.
When Smart won her third Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as veteran comic Deborah Vance on the Max show (and her sixth Emmy overall), Einbinder was caught on camera having a moment that her oft-ignored character Ava is used to enduring.
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Hannah Einbinder and Jean Smart at the 2024 Emmys.
Kevin Mazur/Getty
Jean Smart gets standing ovation at Emmys, drags her own network: ‘HBO, Max — no, HBO’
As Smart got up to accept her award amid a standing ovation, Einbinder began to stand up to give her costar a hug. But Smart didnt see her and unintentionally ignored the gesture, so Einbinder sat back down and expertly rolled with it.
If this was a scene in their Max comedy series, Deborah would have seen Ava getting up to hug her and ignored her on purpose. Of course, Smart and Einbinder aren’t actually their characters, and Smart clearly didn’t turn around and therefore couldn’t see Einbinder, so it’s not like she consciously ignored her costar. And that just makes it even funnier. (Watch the hilarious moment in the video above.)
Smart continued getting laughs (intentionally this time) during her acceptance speech. “It’s very humbling, it really is, and I appreciate this, because I just don’t get enough attention,” she said. Amid audience laughter, she protested, “I’m serious!”
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She went on to thank the high-ranking execs at her network now known as Max — and she got in a dig at its ever-changing name. “And Casey [Bloys], and Sarah [Aubrey], and everybody at HBO, Max, no, HBO. Im sorry,” Smart continued, teasing, “Just what we needed, another network.”
Backstage, Smart told reporters in the press room that she was was touched and surprised by the standing ovation she received. “I was kind of stunned,” Smart said. “It was really, really lovely but not expected. It was really really nice.”
See the full list of 2024 Emmy winners.
