HBO CEO Casey Bloys has apologized for using fake social media profiles to respond to negative reviews of the network’s series.
Mr. Bloys spoke out Thursday following the damning report from the government. rolling stone The day before, he revealed his past antics on Twitter.
“Those of you who know me know that I am a program executive. I want the show to be something like this: That would be great,” Bloys said during a presentation of the network’s 2024 content calendar (via hollywood reporter).
“So think about that mindset, and then think about 2020 and 2021. I’m working from home and spending an unhealthy amount of time scrolling Twitter. And I’m venting my frustrations. I came up with a very, very stupid idea to do it.”
He continued, “Six tweets over a year and a half is obviously not very effective. However, I apologize to those named in the leaked emails and texts.
“Obviously, no one wants to be a part of a story that has nothing to do with them. But also, as many of you know, I’ve progressed in my use of DMs over the last few years.”
“So now, when I raise an issue with something in a review or take issue with something I see, a lot of people are generous enough to interact with me, and maybe even more so. I think it’s a healthy way to ‘work on this,”’ Bloys added.
“But we’ll talk more about that in more detail. Ask us anything in the Q&A. We just wanted to get it out there.”
The HBO chief’s remarks followed. rolling stoneA bombshell report details a lawsuit filed by former employee Sally Temori against management and HBO.
Mr. Temori claims that he was unfairly fired.
The outlet cited several alleged documents exchanged between Bloys and SVP of Drama Programming Kathleen McCaffrey in 2020 and 2021.
In their alleged messages, Bloys and McCaffrey addressed critics who have made negative comments about HBO series such as “Perry Mason” and “Mares of Easttown,” now known as X. They repeatedly discussed using a fake Twitter account to respond to emails.
The paper notes that the text allegedly provided by Temori was scrutinized and verified through metadata.
Temori claims she was asked to create an account for this purpose and gave her profile a pseudonym: Kelly Shepherd, a vegan mother from Texas.
He also responded to critics of the HBO show on the platform.
In a statement, HBO did not deny the social media controversy and said it intended to defend itself in Temori’s lawsuit.
“HBO intends to vigorously defend against Mr. Temori’s allegations,” a spokesperson told the station. “We do not intend to comment on specific interactions between programmers or incorrect tweets.”
“We look forward to a full and fair resolution of this dispute. In the meantime, we wish former HBO employee Mr. Temori all the best in his future endeavors,” the statement concluded.
The Post has reached out to HBO for further comment.
