HBO Executive Casey Bloys confesses to employing fake accounts for retaliation against critics

The CEO and chairman of HBO, Casey Bloys, has admitted to assigning staff to create a fake Twitter account to attack TV critics. The revelation came after an article by Rolling Stone revealed that Bloys had created a "secret army" to counter negative coverage. Bloys apologized to the targeted TV critics during a press event, attributing the actions to spending too much time on Twitter while working from home. According to the text exchanges reviewed by Rolling Stone, Bloys reacted to a TV critic's tweet about the show Perry Mason by drafting a response for an employee to tweet. Although the tweet was not sent, other messages were reportedly sent through fake accounts. Bloys admitted that the strategy was not very effective and apologized to those affected. He mentioned that he now opts to send direct messages to express his feedback to journalists. HBO has been approached by the BBC for a comment from Bloys. These text exchanges are part of material being gathered for a lawsuit filed by a former HBO employee named Sully Temori, who claims wrongful termination, harassment, and discrimination after disclosing a mental health diagnosis. Temori alleges being instructed by Bloys to create fake accounts to respond to HBO show critics and leaving anonymous comments on articles at Bloys' request. HBO's lawyers have requested the dismissal of Temori's lawsuit, denying all allegations and expressing their commitment to defending against them.