HBO Head Casey Bloys Addresses Critics — Face to Face, Rather Than on Twitter
HBO chief Casey Bloys faced the critics — and the music — on Thursday.
The November 2 presentation of HBO and Max’s 2024 content slates was supposed to be a celebration of the next year in prestige TV. The press event, well-attended by IndieWire, was overshadowed by a scandal — one both small in stature and in its pettiness.
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As first reported by Rolling Stone on Wednesday, November 1, Bloys has directed lower-level staff to create a fake Twitter account to respond harshly to TV critics who posted negative reviews about HBO shows. It happened on at least six occasions.
Bloys addressed the story on Thursday. It “was a very, very dumb idea,” he said — and then Bloys attempted to explain his “mindset” at the time.
“I am a programming executive. (I am) very, very passionate about the shows we decide to do and the people who do them, and the people who work on them,” Bloys told a room full of reporters and critics. “I want the shows to be great, I want people to love them. I want you all to love them; it’s very important to me what you all think of the shows.”
“So when you think of that mindset and then think of 2020 and 2021, I’m home — working from home — spending an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through Twitter. And I come up with a very, very dumb idea to vent my frustration,” he continued. “Obviously, six tweets over a year and a half is not very effective. But I do apologize to the people who are mentioned in the leaked emails, texts — obviously nobody wants to be a 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 said. “So now, when I take issue with something in review…I DM many of you. And 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 all of this.”
Well, it’s definitely not worse. Bloys then vowed to answer any and all questions at the end of the event, threw to a sizzle reel, and brought to the stage “True Detective: Night Country” showrunner Issa López.
Former HBO staffer Sully Temori, who is currently suing HBO, SVP of drama programming Kathleen McCaffrey, HBO head of drama Francesca Orsi, and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and two producers of his show “The Idol,” shared the damning text exchanges between Bloys and McCaffrey with Rolling Stone. The texts ultimately led Temori to create a Twitter account as “Texas mom and herbalist” Kelly Shepard.
“Shepard” had some very pro-HBO and anti-critic takes. Imagine that. Aside from the tweets, Temori was also instructed to used anonymous accounts to defend HBO shows against negative comments in Hollywood trade publication Deadline’s comments section.
The Temori lawsuit alleges he was harassed and discriminated against by his bosses after disclosing a mental health diagnosis. Temori was hired as a temp in 2015, became an executive assistant in 2017, and then a script coordinator on “The Idol” in August 2021. He says he was instructed by McCaffrey in June 2020 to create the fake accounts she and Bloys discussed.
Temori says he was forced to babysit rescue kittens in Orsi’s office while she joked on the phone he was playing with them to “improve his mental health.” He says he was also sexually harassed due to his sexual orientation, with one unnamed employee allegedly slapping his butt and “commenting about personal and sexual matters.” The lawsuit alleges he was told by HBO executives to take the “Idol” job as a better opportunity, only to face harassment from star Tesfaye and other producers. He was laid off in October 2021.
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