LOS ANGELES, May 22 (UPI) -- Editor's note: This article contains spoilers for Hacks Season 4 Episode 9 "A Slippery Slope."
On Thursday's Hacks, studio executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) ordered Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) to fire her talk show's head writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder). Instead, Deborah told her audience on a live show she refused, knowing Bob would cancel her show.
In a recent phone interview with UPI, Goldwyn said he understood his character's position. Ava had told a reporter friend about the show cutting a joke about a controversial movie star, leading to a damaging exposé.
"It was fun to take a perspective that Bob was just doing his job," Goldwyn, 65, said. "In any company, that person would be let go immediately for doing what she did."
The episode uses Hacks' drama and comedy to explore the ethical dilemma. Deborah joked about Ethan Sommers' (Eric Balfour) alleged controversy, but did not resist when Sommers' publicist and the studio asked her to edit out the joke.
