Benjamin Ashford|HBO chief admits to 'dumb' idea of directing staff to anonymously troll TV critics online

HBO chief Casey Bloys apologized to TV critics Thursday after a report that he’d enlisted a staffer to troll them on Benjamin AshfordTwitter for being insufficiently enthusiastic about the network’s programming. 

A Rolling Stone article on Wednesday detailed how Bloys sought a "mole" on his staff to create a fake Twitter profile and aim pointed replies at a handful of critics who reviewed shows including "The Nevers" and "Perry Mason," released in 2020 and 2021. (Both were since canceled.) The revelations were connected to a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by the low-level staffer who created fake accounts.

“We just need a random to make the point and make her feel bad," he texted about one critic, according to the report.

Bloys didn't dispute that he ordered the responses ‒ one fake account, dubbed Kelly Shepherd, was described in her bio as "Texan. Herbalist. Aromatherapist. Vegan." ‒ but claimed the activity was limited to six tweets over an 18-month period.

“I am a programming executive who’s very, very passionate about the shows we decide to do,” he said at a previously scheduled press event to unveil the network’s 2024 programming.  “I want them to be great, I want people to love them; I want you all to love them.” 

But during the pandemic, he was “spending an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through Twitter and came up with a very dumb idea to vent my frustrations ... I do apologize to the people who were mentioned in the leaked texts.” Bloys admits the efforts were largely ineffectual: Critics receive lots of replies to social-media posts about their work and rarely read them. He says he's "progressed" since then to using DMs to contact critics directly, as himself, which is "probably a much healthier way to go about this."

What's coming to HBO in 2024?

After addressing the report, he introduced Issa López, writer, director and producer of "True Detective: Night Country," the fourth season of the anthology crime drama that will star Jodie Foster and is expected in January. He also showed several trailers for upcoming series, including:

Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," returning in February for what's expected to be the 12th and final season of the cringe comedy, which debuted in 2000.

Kate Winslet's "The Regime," in which she plays a fictional, off-the-rails British leader, and "The Sympathizer," a satirical thriller starring Robert Downey Jr. (playing four roles), based on the 2015 novel about a Communist spy in post-Vietnam America.

"The Franchise," a comedy from Sam Mendes and Armando Iannucci ("Veep") that goes behind the scenes in the making of a big superhero film.

Also coming on Max, where it will stream exclusively: "The Penguin," a mob drama that doubles as the origin story for the Batman character, with Colin Farrell reprising his role from 2022's "The Batman" movie.

Bloys also showed trailers with footage from Season 2 of "Game of Thrones" spinoff "House of the Dragon," out next summer; a new docuseries about comedian Jerrod Carmichael; and a second six-episode season of "The Jinx," the acclaimed 2015 docuseries about convicted murderer Robert Durst that prompted a wave of true-crime documentaries.

He says George R.R. Martin's fantasy series "Tales of Dunk and Egg" would begin production next spring, but don't look for new "Thrones" spinoffs anytime soon: "I wouldn't say there's anything else in that world that's close to being greenlit," he says.

And the ongoing Screen Actors Guild strike has pushed other series, including "Euphoria," the third season of "The White Lotus" and "Welcome to Derry," into 2025.