‘Hacks' Pits Jimmy Kimmel vs. Deborah Vance in a 'Hilarious' Battle Over Kristen Bell: 'He Was a Riot!'

Yahoo

05-05-2025

Hacks Season 4 has been all about the bonkers behind-the-scenes drama that goes into making late night comedy in 2025. This week, in Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 'Clickable Face,' the MAX hit tackles the stress of nabbing top tier talent that can appeal to, ahem, target demographics. After a focus group decides that Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) isn't relatable enough for their liking, the ruthless comic resorts to underhanded tactics to nab a super popular guest. The one problem? In doing so, she starts a turf war with none other than real life late night host Jimmy Kimmel.
**Spoilers for Season 4 Episode 5 'Clickable Face,' now streaming on MAX**
Early in Hacks Season 4 Episode 5 'Clickable Face,' Deborah Vance learns that women between the ages of 25 and 45 do not like her, per the aforementioned focus group, she decides that she absolutely needs to have a guest who does appeal to that demo. Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) floats the idea that popular star Kristen Bell could appear on the show for a much-needed ratings bump. The problem? Bell is already committed to appear on Kimmel. 'They vacation together,' Jimmy says.
Undeterred, Deborah goes on a mission to the cute LA enclave of Larchmont to literally stalk Bell in her local grocery store. There, she confronts the real life star of Nobody Wants This (and a fictional live action Tinkerbell) to guilt the actress into appearing on her show ASAP. Bell obliges, but there's a problem. It's Kimmel.
The next day, Jimmy Kimmel is literally waiting for Deborah at her parking spot, ready to push into her personal space and shake her down. 'KB's not doing your show,' he says bluntly, referring to Bell. 'Everyone knows that when she's got a new project, that she does my show first. I got full custody when Conan died.'
Kimmel goes on to make fun of other late night hosts like Fallon and Cordon, all while alluding to the work he's done to secure bookings in the cutthroat world of late night talent booking. It's a more sinister side to the late night host and one that Jean Smart revealed wasn't (initially) true to life.
'Hilarious! Hilarious!' Smart exclaimed when DECIDER asked her about the scene. 'And he was so sweet!'
'When we first started the scene, he kept apologizing to everybody. He said, 'You know, just please be patient. Please be kind. I don't normally do this.'' And he was really nervous,' she added.
However, as the day went on, Kimmel became more comfortable with his part on Hacks.
'By the end of the scene, he was like padding his part and adding lines,' Smart said. 'It was like, 'We've created a monster.''
'I love it,' Hacks co-star Hannah Einbinder chimed in.
'He was a riot. He was so much fun,' Smart said.
Smart also revealed she had one slight regret about the whole situation. DECIDER spoke to her and Einbinder weeks before Hacks Season 4's April premiere date and Kimmel's cameo was still a tightly kept secret.
'I'm going to do his show April 9th and I wish we could show a clip of that scene, but we can't because it won't have aired yet,' Smart said. 'I really wish we could.'