While Wednesday’s red carpet event for “Hacks” Season 5 didn’t actually include a screening of the premiere episode, Thursday’s “Diva Las Vegas” event at the El Rey Theatre did — with two episodes, in fact.
Series creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky and star Hannah Einbinder brought Las Vegas to Hollywood for a fan celebration in honor of Jean Smart’s iconic Deborah Vance. They thanked their HBO Max fandom for their support over the years as the show enters its final season, and Einbinder even showed her love with a cartwheel into a full split onstage.
“It’s been a year since we’ve been with you, as in the show. And it’s, as you may know, our final season, which sucks,” Aniello recapped for the crowd. “Actually, we don’t need to get into it. We tried… I was going to talk about…”
“We’re all amongst friends, no one’s recording this,” Einbinder then offered, as Downs added: “I don’t think we can get into that right now. We don’t want to spoil.”
“Just watch the show, we’ll tell you later,” Aniello ultimately teased.
The immersive event boasted an open bar, passed apps, a showgirl photo-op, table games straight out of a Sin City casino, a magician and plenty of merch from the show — including branded poker chips, cards, T-shirts, matches, visors, hats, bumper stickers and even a DV-monogrammed robe.
Plus, “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Season 2 winner Alaska married people off as the celebrity wedding officiant at the Deborah Vance chapel upstairs, complete with costumes and Mad Libs-inspired marriage certificates.
“Hacks” Season 5 streams Thursdays on HBO Max.
