'Hacks' star was shocked to lose Emmy, admits she threw a 'tantrum'
'Hacks' star was shocked to lose Emmy, admits she threw a 'tantrum'
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYWed, June 24, 2026 at 1:52 PM UTC
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Creative Arts Emmys nominee Robby Hoffman admits she was a "sore loser" at the ceremony in 2025, so much so that she tried to bail on presenting later in the evening.
On the "Bald and the Beautiful" podcast, the "Hacks" star, 36, recounted her experience with losing the guest actress in a comedy series award at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmys. Hoffman, who played Jimmy and Kayla's assistant Randi on the HBO Max comedy, said she attended the event with her sister, and going in, they were both confident she would win.
"We are beyond surprised to lose," Hoffman recounted. "I walk in like, 'Where am I going to put the Emmy?' … We lose immediately. My sister goes, 'We don't need this…,' pushes me out. She grabs me by the arm [and says], 'We're leaving this… .' You see us immediately leaving. We lose, and we leave, and we are stewing."
Robby Hoffman speaks during the "Hacks" Season 5 FYC event on May 26, 2026, in Los Angeles.
The guest actress in a comedy series Emmy went to Hoffman's "Hacks" costar Julianne Nicholson, and Hoffman acknowledged that she "beyond deserves" it.
Hoffman spoke jokingly about the loss on the podcast and poked fun at herself for being so sure she would win, despite being nominated against heavy-hitters like Olivia Colman and Jamie Lee Curtis for "The Bear," Cynthia Erivo for "Poker Face" and Zoë Kravitz for "The Studio." Still, she said she found it "shocking" to lose and noted her entire family acted as if she had already won the award from the moment she was nominated.
"I was the biggest sore loser," Hoffman admitted.
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Although she was scheduled to present an Emmy later in the ceremony, Hoffman also revealed she attempted to get out of it, but was "contractually" forced to do so.
"I go, 'We're leaving,'" she said. "So the Emmy managers people, producers, they go, 'Oh, you're still presenting.' I had to present cinematography. I said, 'Nah, I don't want to do that anymore.' They said, 'No, it's part of the program, you've got to do the cinematography.' I was like, 'Well, my circumstances changed. My circumstances have changed. I'm not in the mood.'"
Hoffman did wind up presenting the Emmy for best cinematography in a half-hour series, and in a comedic bit, she expressed her displeasure in having to do so.
Robby Hoffman attends the New York premiere of "Rooster" on March 3, 2026, in New York City.
"I lost. There's nothing to say. And frankly, it's … criminal they've asked me to present after that," she joked on stage at the time before saying, on a serious note, "The truth is, I love Julianne and 'Hacks,' and I'm lucky to even be here."
Podcast host Trixie Mattel recalled how Hoffman reacted like her "whole family was murdered" after her loss and seemed to be in "shock," and Hoffman admitted she was "being a baby" and threw a "tantrum" but that her reaction was "wrong."
Hoffman, a comedian and writer, joined the cast of "Hacks" in its fourth season and remained with the show through its series finale in May. She has also had roles on "Dying for Sex" and "History of the World, Part II," and she stars on the HBO series "Rooster" with Steve Carell. Hoffman's stand-up comedy special "Wake Up" debuted in 2025.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hacks' star Robby Hoffman threw a 'tantrum' after Emmy loss
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
