Who is Casey Bloys? HBO CEO allegedly in charge of 'secret army' to combat TV critics
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Former HBO employee Sully Temori has accused Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, of overseeing a "secret army" aimed at silencing TV reviewers who write negative assessments of HBO shows.
In court documents, the former HBO employee alleged that the network's CEO compelled a staff member to create covert social media profiles for the purpose of responding to online criticism.
Temori's lawsuit, which centers on allegations of wrongful termination and harassment, specifically implicates Kathleen McCaffrey, HBO's Senior Vice President of Drama Content. The claims assert that she requested him to create fraudulent accounts in June 2020.
According to Rolling Stone, McCaffrey allegedly provided instructions to Temori to create fake online identities on behalf of Bloys. This was supposedly done to allow her to respond to critics on social media and in articles from other publications.
HBO’s Casey Bloys ordered staffers to create fake accounts to fire back at critics, according to text conversations reviewed by Rolling Stone as part of a new lawsuit.
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) November 1, 2023
Story: https://t.co/eJMncbDV3P pic.twitter.com/U0pQvUc817
Casey Bloys was named HBO’s CEO and chairman in October 2022
Bloys, who assumed the roles of HBO's CEO and chairman in October 2022, assumed oversight of original content responsibilities for HBO Max in August 2020. This followed his appointment as President of HBO Programming in May 2016.
This included all HBO Original and Max Original shows, documentaries, and specials.
In April 2022, Bloys expanded his sphere of influence by incorporating the Magnolia Network. As of May 2023, when the new Max platform was launched, he continues to oversee HBO and Max Originals.
More than any network or streaming service, his programming took home 38 Emmy Awards in 2022 across 13 titles.
It also garnered the most nominations, 140, surpassing HBO's previous record of 137 nominations in 2019, as per Bloys' bio on Warner Bros. Discovery.
HBO Bosses Used ‘Secret’ Fake Accounts to Troll TV Critics - Casey Bloys ordered staffers to create fake accounts to fire back at critics, according to text conversations reviewed by Rolling Stone as part of a new lawsuit pic.twitter.com/kuDpgh8eGT
— G_ (@_G_the_first) November 1, 2023
In February 2016, Bloys was elevated to the position of President of HBO Series, Late Night, and Specials, where he oversaw the creation and production of all talk shows, series, and specials for the network.
He started working for HBO in 2004 as Director of Development for HBO Independent Productions (HIP), and in 2005 he was given a promotion to Vice President of HIP.
He was appointed Senior Vice President in 2009 after being appointed Vice President of HBO Entertainment in 2006, where he oversaw the creation of comedy shows.
He has been in charge of developing and producing a large list of HBO shows during his 19-year tenure, including 'Girls,' 'Silicon Valley,' 'Flight of the Conchords,' 'Veep,' and 'Enlightened.'
Casey Bloys allegedly ordered HBO employees to create phony accounts to hit back at critics
In a recent piece about an ongoing wrongful termination lawsuit, Rolling Stone uncovered the purported practice.
Temori's lawyer, Michael Martinez, told Rolling Stone that his client started responding to detractors by creating a phony Twitter account in order to comply with orders from his superiors.
Text exchanges obtained by the publication demonstrate that Bloys and Senior Vice President McCaffrey participated in disputes with TV critics on Twitter and in the comments sections of Hollywood industry trade publications, discussing the need for a "secret army."
These exchanges took place on at least six occasions between June 2020 and April 2021.
TV critics that were singled out included Mike Hale and James Poniewozik of the New York Times, Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone, and Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture.
One such instance was when Bloys felt annoyed by a tweet from VanArendonk, a critic for Vulture TV, regarding her thoughts on the HBO series 'Perry Mason,' which starred Matthew Rhys as a defense attorney.
VanArendonk tweeted about the show a few days ahead of its platform debut, writing, "Dear prestige TV, Please find some way to communicate male trauma besides showing me a flashback to the hero’s memories of trench warfare."
As per the texts reviewed by Rolling Stone, a frustrated Bloys forwarded the tweet from VanArendonk to McCaffrey.
He texted, "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!"
The texts are among a sizable collection of documents from an impending wrongful termination lawsuit.
Temori, a former temporary employee of the corporation who was promoted to executive assistant in 2017, will be the party filing the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, Temori endured discrimination, harassment, and retribution after telling his supervisors about his mental health condition.