blackball

Even a popular New York City venue allegedly uses it to blackball people its millionaire owner considers adversaries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

Ms McKinney said modelling opportunities began to decline for her and she believed Mr Combs used his influence to "blackball" her in the industry.

From BBC ● May 22, 2024

Regarding the charge from many of his accusers that he threatened to derail their careers if they spoke out: “I couldn’t blackball anybody, because if I said, ‘Don’t use that actress’ .

From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2020

NBA superstars like LeBron James and Steph Curry are impervious to this kind of treatment, in part because the NBA didn’t campaign to blackball them.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 5, 2019

I eventually reached her husband through his importers’ association, which would later blackball him for undercutting his fellow members.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

While that blackballs the firms, it does not ban all business dealings, the report added.

From Reuters ● Mar. 25, 2022

I buy licorice whips, jelly beans, many-layered blackballs with the seed in the middle, packages of fizzy sherbet you suck up through a straw.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Napoleon sees in this remark a germ of aggression on behalf of his House of Commons, more especially when emphasised by 125 blackballs against a Government Bill.

From Napoleon's Letters to Josephine by Henry Foljambe Hall

But once again, insensible to this detail, the jury seemed scarcely able to find blackballs enough to emphasize their refusal of the "Passage of the Beresina."

From International Short Stories: French by A. Cheneviere

Two blackballs are sufficient to cause the rejection of a candidate.

From American Adventures A Second Trip 'Abroad at home' by Wallace Morgan

Second, unlike Kennan’s memo, Merry’s was at odds with U.S. policy and was ignored, then buried, and its author was blackballed, by the policymakers at the time.

From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2024

She also said he had subsequently "blackballed" her in the modelling world.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2024

Siwa's experience with Nickelodeon led the star to big heights, even though she alleged that they blackballed her.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2024

It happened after a Muhammad Ali fight back in 1970 when he couldn’t get sanctioned to fight anywhere; he’d been blackballed because of his stance against the Vietnam War.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2024

If he’s not careful, he’ll be blackballed by his state medical association and kept out of the hospitals.”

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

And the reason for that compulsive work ethic was her unofficial blackballing by “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson, for the crime of accepting Fox's offer to host her own talk show.

From Salon ● May 14, 2025

“They face industry blackballing and fewer professional opportunities when they speak out,” Williams said.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2022

Mr. Krikorian says he’s been facing that sort of ideological blackballing for years.

From Washington Times ● May 30, 2022

He won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 2019 after he accused the league of blackballing him because of his protests.

From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2020

The blackballing was Bagenal Daly's doing—" "So I heard," interrupted the other; "they told me that; and here, look here, here's Daly's bond for four thousand six hundred.

From The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) by Charles James Lever