00:00 HBO's chief executive Casey Bloys is addressing allegations that his division used fake Twitter
00:04 accounts to undermine TV critics posting tepid reviews of network programming.
00:09 At a presentation of HBO's 2024 content slate on Thursday, Bloys cast the Twitter accounts
00:14 as part of a pandemic-era "dumb idea."
00:16 He told the press in attendance, "For those of you who know me, you know that I am a programming
00:20 executive very, very passionate about the shows that we decide to do, and the people
00:24 who do them and the people who work on them.
00:26 I want the shows to be great."
00:28 Bloys continued, "So when you think of that mindset and then think of 2020 and 2021, I'm
00:33 working from home, spending an unhealthy amount of time scrolling through Twitter, and I came
00:37 up with a very, very dumb idea to vent my frustration."
00:39 The HBO chief elaborated, "Obviously six tweets over a year and a half is not very effective,
00:45 but I do apologize to the people who were mentioned in the leaked emails, texts.
00:49 Obviously nobody wants to be part of a story that they had nothing to do with.
00:52 But also, as many of you know, I have progressed over the past couple of years to using DMs.
00:56 So now when I take issue with something in a review or take issue with something I see,
01:00 I DM many of you and many of you are gracious enough to engage with me back and forth."
01:04 The allegations, first reported by Rolling Stone, were made by an ex-HBO executive assistant
01:09 in a lawsuit filed in July against HBO's senior vice president of drama programming and HBO's
01:14 head of drama, who sued his agendo in Los Angeles' Superior Court, alleging they were
01:19 harassed over their disability and sexual orientation.
01:22 For much more on this story, go to THR.com.
01:24 This is The Hollywood Reporter News.
01:29 (air whooshing)
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