HBO has been synonymous with quality shows for decades, but now a new light has been shined. Leadership at HBO, particularly CEO Casey Bloys, has led social media efforts to use fake accounts to troll TV critics who wrote negative reviews. These tactics were used to combat any criticism toward its hits like The Mare of Easttown and The Nevers.
Behind HBO Using Fake Social Media Accounts to Troll TV Critics
In a report from Rolling Stones, messages between HBO executives reveal the use of fake social media accounts to defend its shows on its streaming service, Max, formerly HBO Max. It started in June 2020 and has now come to light after a wrongful termination suit by ex-employee Sully Temori. Temori has had plenty of negative experiences that led to the suit, including sexual harassment and being used to create secretive accounts to reply to critics from sites like Vulture and Deadline.
Much of the ploy was done by Bloys and senior vice president of drama Kathleen McCaffrey. Bloys wanted a “mole” who was not in top leadership in hopes of keeping distance away from any backlash from him or other executives. McCaffrey acted as the messenger from Bloys to Temori.
The secretive nature of HBO using fake social media accounts became apparent. After Mare of Easttown received a negative review from Rolling Stones critic Alan Sepinwall, and The Nevers received negative reviews from both Sepinwall and The New York Times critic James Poniewozik. They both received a reply from the same account, which represented feelings from texts from Bloys.
In another instance, Vulture’s Kathryn VanArendonk tweeted about Perry Mason using a “flashback to the hero’s memories of trench warfare” to “communicate male trauma.” Bloys texted McCaffrey about the critic’s “blithe response to what soldiers legitimately go through on [the] battlefield.” He asked McCaffrey if she had a “secret handle” and asked if they could reply with said “secret handle” to explain to dismiss a soldier’s experience like that seems pretty disrespectful.”
Antagonizing critics is nothing new, whether the social media accounts are fake from HBO or real ones from internet trolls. Any critics, whether for video games or TV, can testify to having negative replies or comments over a score that the troll disagreed with. This can come from positive or negative reviews.
