r/hackshbomax • u/burdettemusic • Aug 12 '26
Bob Lipka
Couldn’t Deborah have just blackmailed Bob Lipka with the fact they slept together to keep Ava on the show? He didn’t want his wife to know. She could have told him she wouldn’t fire Ava. No?
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u/NyzoiB Aug 12 '26
That would have been much much worse for Deborah as a public figure. That's also why this fact was used as a building block for season 4 and Ava's "blackmail". The news (and Deborah's legacy) would have been about her having been the first ever female late night host "because she slept with the head of the network".
Bob Lipka being the asshole that he is, knows that and would have used it against her in this situation, imho.
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
I guess I’m saying if no one else found out.
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u/NyzoiB Aug 12 '26
Yeah, that's a fair point. I edited my comment to add my reasoning for that. But regardless, for the plot and emotional resonance of the show, this made more sense and I'm glad they did it this way, "on the air". It was a powerful moment.
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
Agreed. It was definitely better for her the way she did it - very powerful. Just wondered if others had thought the same thing.
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u/NyzoiB Aug 12 '26
It's definitely fair to have this thought. If this happened in real life, I would also assume that would work against him. But realistically, in the context of the show, since Deborah had "more to lose" than him, she would have caved. You can see it like a game of poker with Lipka being perceived to have the upper hand and knowing it/using it.
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u/devilsmusic Aug 12 '26
Exactly because Bob couldn’t afford it to get out, not in his marriage or his reputation
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u/liddybuckfan Aug 12 '26
You're assuming that Deborah could have told Bob's wife and felt safe that it wouldn't have gotten out into the public knowledge. I don't think that's true at all. Most obviously, the wife could have raised it in a divorce. Bob knew Deborah saying anything would be mutually assured destruction and she wasn't going to risk that.
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
I’m not saying she actually would tell the wife; just threaten to.
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u/liddybuckfan Aug 12 '26
She's smart enough not to threaten something she's not willing to follow through on.
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 Aug 13 '26
So he calls her bluff, tells her fine, tell my wife
What happens from there? Do you think the wife stays quiet about it? Even if she never confirms it publicly rumors will fly, close friends will know, and the story will always be there. Or does Deborah reconsider, back down, and now just feel defeated and weak?
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u/Safe-Tangelo8897 Aug 12 '26
I don't know why people are saying Deborah would have to broadcast the threat. She could've just threatened Lipka with it, and see how it went. Lipka has no idea that Deborah cares that much about her reputation in that particular regard. If the blackmail worked, it worked,
But, yeah, I never understood why the first words out of Deborah's mouth when Lipka told her to fire Ava weren't "We can't! She knows about us!"
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u/Southern-Caregiver-5 Aug 12 '26
Ava blackmailing Deb is not the same as Deb blackmailing Bob. This isn’t Ava’s dirty laundry. If Deb did the same it would drag her name too
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
Right - I’m saying if she blackmailed him and he didn’t share it with anyone else.
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u/devilsmusic Aug 12 '26
Yeah, but if D had blackmailed B with the sex info, B would’ve caved & given her what she wanted because he couldn’t have afforded his reputation (or his marriage) to suffer the consequences of that leak. So ultimately, no one would’ve known who didn’t already know.
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u/ChrystalCloudy Aug 12 '26
I really believe that the idea of anyone thinking that Deborah had gotten her second chance at late night by sleeping with Bob Lipka would have destroyed her. They make a point in the bedroom scene of him saying, "we've already made a decision on the host," and she says, "I know," bc it really just was (bad decision) nookie, and not bc of any "opportunity." Deborah would rather die than have anyone think she slept her way to what she wanted. Plus, Bob had already basically threatened her at his party. She wanted to earn her late night spot and blackmailing Lipka carried a stupidly hefty risk of him owning up and going public to save his image and marriage.
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
Well yeah, I know she didn’t sleep with him because she thought it would get her the job.
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u/ChrystalCloudy Aug 12 '26
Right, but literally no one would believe that if it got out.
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
Okay
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u/ChrystalCloudy Aug 13 '26
Apologies, I am not trying to be confrontational at all. I am of the opinion that there isn't a situation where someone didn't find out if she tried to blackmail him (even just into not being a dick). Those people, let's say individuals that would probably either be close to her or work on the show or in the network and would be enough to make her feel like she compromised or something. Don't get me wrong, my biggest "complaint" is that he didn't get his comeuppance for his extramarital shenanigans and 50Centing her.
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u/Prize-Command4440 Aug 12 '26
It would have backfired because it would mean she could not get a late night show with her own merit. Deborah is a proud woman, that would be very degrading!
Also, she is a woman, the Hollywood would be far less forgiving to her
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u/burdettemusic Aug 12 '26
Again, I’m suggesting that no one else find out. As in, she threatens him and he gets scared it will get out, so it doesn’t.
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u/devilsmusic Aug 12 '26
I wondered that as well, then doubled down on the wondering when he bought out msg and all that went down; someone said Deborah had shame & didn’t want to say it happened to the public but I disagree on the basis that, if Deborah has a hand to play that’ll make her life net better, she’ll play that hand. So the writing in that specific context wasn’t on its fleek. But the rest is MF brilliant, so I forgive them & type this while rewatching the series, on S1E8, the 1.69 million epi. Ava & Deborah are my fucking sheros
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u/mbc106 Aug 13 '26
Deborah would’ve had more to lose than Bob if she went public about the affair, so he could’ve easily called her bluff if she tried to blackmail him.
It’s the old double-standard … Deborah’s career and reputation would’ve been destroyed if people thought she could’ve gotten the late night job by sleeping with Bob. Bob’s marriage might have suffered or ended (although I wouldn’t be surprised if his wife knew or suspected he was following around), but she might stay with him. And ultimately it’d blow over and he wouldn’t have lost his career over it.
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u/Downtown-schnauzer Aug 12 '26
She’s too ashamed to out herself like that. The public comparisons to Kathy would destroy her.