HBO CEO admits using 'secret army' of fake Twitter accounts to troll critics who left negative reviews

Casey Bloys, the CEO of HBO, has admitted that he unleashed a "secret army" of fake Twitter accounts to troll entertainment critics who left negative reviews of the network's TV shows.

Rolling Stone published an article on Wednesday claiming that Bloys used fake Twitter accounts to attack critics who reviewed HBO shows negatively.

Bloys reportedly coordinated the online attacks with HBO's senior vice president of drama programming, Kathleen McCaffrey.

According to text messages between Bloys and McCaffrey reviewed by Rolling Stone, the two HBO execs discussed using a "secret army" of fake Twitter accounts to put pressure on any critics.

A Vulture TV critic disparaged HBO's "Perry Mason" TV series, saying: "Dear prestige TV. Please find some way to communicate male trauma besides showing me a flashback to the hero’s memories of trench warfare."

Bloys allegedly reacted by asking McCaffrey: "Maybe a Twitter user should tweet that that’s a pretty blithe response to what soldiers legitimately go through on [the] battlefield. Do you have a secret handle? Couldn’t we say especially given that it’s D-Day to dismiss a soldier’s experience like that seems pretty disrespectful … this must be answered!”

In June 2020, McCaffrey allegedly involved former HBO staffer Sully Temori in creating fake Twitter profiles.

However, Temori later filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against HBO after being fired in October 2021. Temori claimed that he faced retaliation and discrimination from the cable TV network after disclosing a mental health diagnosis to his bosses.

Temori's lawsuit alleges that he created "fake online accounts to respond to critics."

McCaffrey allegedly told Temori, "[Bloys] always texts me asking me to find friends to reply … is there a way to create a dummy account that can’t be traced to us to do his bidding?"

A troll account was created on Twitter by the name of Kelly Shepherd – an alleged Texas mom who is also a vegan, an aromatherapist, and an herbalist. The fake account used the pronouns of she/her.

In April 2021, the Kelly Shepherd account retaliated against an unfavorable review of Joss Whedon's sci-fi drama series "The Nevers."

The Kelly Shepherd account used identity politics to attack New York Times chief TV critic James Poniewozik: "How shocking that two middle aged white men (you & Hale) are s**ttng on a show about women," referring to New York Times TV critic Mike Hale.

Between June 2020 and April 2021 there were at least six instances of HBO executives siccing fake Twitter accounts on critics, according to the outlet.

Temori’s attorney, Michael Martinez, told Rolling Stone that HBO is a "very petty" company.

"First and foremost, I think [this lawsuit] is about HBO’s culture and how it fosters a dynamic of ongoing harassment and discrimination in the workplace," Martinez said. "They joke about people outside of HBO, they joke about people within HBO. … You suffer through some bullying until you can’t suffer any more."

An HBO spokesperson said the network "intends to vigorously defend against Mr. Temori’s allegations. We look forward to a full and fair resolution of this dispute. In the meantime, we wish Mr. Temori, a former HBO employee, well in his future endeavors."

On Thursday, Bloys issued an apology for weaponizing fake accounts on Twitter – now the X social media platform.

"For those of you who know me, you know that I am a programming executive, very, very passionate about the shows that we decided to do, and the people who do them and the people who work on them, I want the shows to be great,” Bloys said at a presentation of the network’s 2024 content, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“So when you think of that mindset, and then think of 2020 and 2021," he continued. "I’m home working from home, spending an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through Twitter. And I came up with a very, very dumb idea to vent my frustration.”

"Obviously, six tweets over a year and a half is not very effective. But I do apologize to the people who were mentioned in the leaked emails, texts," the HBO CEO said.

“Obviously, nobody wants to be part of a story that they have nothing to do with. But also, as many of you know, I have progressed over the past couple of years to using DMs," Bloys added. "So now, when I take issue with something in a review or take issue with something I see, many of you are gracious enough to engage with me in a back-and-forth and I think that is probably a much healthier way to go about this."

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