‘Hacks’ Breakout Robby Hoffman Reacts to “Pete and Ariana” Comparison: “At Least They’re Not Calling Us the Epstein and Child”

Robby Hoffman has no problem being called “the Pete and Ariana of the 2025-era queer world.” In fact, she’ll take it. “When they say something like that… great!” the Hacks star joked in an interview with The New York Times. “At least they’re not calling us the Epstein and child.”

Hoffman, who plays fan-favorite Randi on HBO’s hit comedy, grew up in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn before moving to Montreal, ditching an accounting program after a single day, and chasing a career in comedy.

The role of Randi — a straight-talking, heavy–Brooklyn-accented former Hasidic Jew who just saw her first movie (Speed, from 1994) — was written specifically for her.

Now she’s got her first Emmy nomination, is shooting an untitled HBO comedy opposite Steve Carell, and still finds time to co-host her podcast Too Far.

Working with Carell, she admits, was a surreal moment. “Suddenly, you go to set and there’s Steve and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m acting with Steve Carell,’ but you have to get over it in three seconds. My brother Shmuley would be like, ‘Did you mention The Office?’ But you have no time… There are a million people working there.”

Eventually, she slipped it in — just so she could tell Shmuley. “I do risk coming off as a loser fan, because of what I do for my family,” she said. “But alas, family first, right?”

In January, Hoffman married former Bachelorette star Gabby Windey, whose platinum-blonde, cheerleader-glam style couldn’t be more different from Hoffman’s thrifted, masculine-leaning wardrobe — yet somehow, they click.

And if their romance has merged two very different fandoms? Hoffman’s here for it.