Sound of Freedom studio shuts down claims of astroturfing

Angel Studios, the studio behind the surprise indie hit Sound of Freedom, has shut down claims of astroturfing, saying tickets are being bought by “everyday people.”

Sound of Freedom continues to surpass box office expectations, having made $155 million in its first month of release before even dropping in international theaters. It tells the true story of Tim Ballard, the former federal agent who founded a non-profit organization named Operation Underground Railroad to rescue children from sex trafficking rings. 

But the movie has been mired in controversy ever since its US release last month, with allegations ranging from cinemas purposely sabotaging screenings (which have since been rebuked) to discussions of its lead star Jim Caviezel’s links to QAnon. 

This week, Sound of Freedom’s success has been under the spotlight once more amid accusations of astroturfing – but Angel Studios has now spoken out to shut down the claims. 

Sound of Freedom studio shuts down claims of astroturfing

For the uninitiated, astroturfing refers to the practice of creating a fake or deceptive appearance of grassroots support for a cause, product, service, or movement, where in reality such support does not exist organically. 

In the context of Sound of Freedom, a theory has been circulating that Angel Studios or a company or organization supporting the movie has been buying huge numbers of tickets through its Pay It Forward campaign in order to bump up ticket sales. 

The Pay It Forward scheme enables people to purchase tickets for others who may not be able to see the film. However, this doesn’t mean all of the donated tickets are redeemed. 

The astroturfing accusation arrived after numerous cinemagoers took to social media to share clips and photos of empty screenings of supposedly “sold out” shows. As said by one on TikTok: “Movie theatre EMPTY and it said SOLD OUT online and at front desk8 #thesoundoffreedom.”

Another commented on the situation, writing: “Hilarious thing about Sound of Freedom is that Angel Studios’ release strategy urged audiences to buy up entire theaters and give tickets away, and now conspiracy theorists are up in arms because their theater said the movie was sold out and they arrived to find an empty showing.”

However, in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Jared Geesey – Angel Studios’ senior VP of global distribution – shut down these claims. 

While he declined to reveal how many of the reported 14.5 million US ticket sales were through the Pay It Forward scheme, Geesey said: “The vast majority of tickets are being bought by human, everyday people in a normal purchase flow.

“We do not break out Pay It Forward tickets versus regular tickets because they’re the same thing. A ticket is a ticket, whether you paid for it or someone else paid for it.”

But there are still some who think there should be more transparency, with an anonymous studio distribution exec source telling the outlet: “In addition to the issue of grosses, it’s hard to know how many people are actually watching the movie if we don’t know the number of tickets redeemed.” 

Sound of Freedom is in US cinemas now, and it drops in UK theaters on August 31. You can check out our other coverage of the movie below:

How to watch Sound of Freedom
• Sound of Freedom controversy explained
• Sound of Freedom box office
• Who is Jim Caviezel? 
• Why did Disney shelve Sound of Freedom?
• Studio rejects claims of sabotaged screenings
• Sound of Freedom international release dates
• Sound of Freedom funder charged with child kidnapping