Elizabeth Holmes reveals how she felt about Amanda Seyfried's portrayal of her in The Dropout
Elizabeth Holmes became emotional while watching Amanda Seyfried portray her in The Dropout, with the former Theranos CEO asking for the show to be turned off during a particularly uncomfortable scene.
The moment was captured in You Can See Everything, a new documentary directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim that offers an unusual look into Holmes' life.
Holmes, who is serving a prison sentence following her conviction for fraud, had apparently never watched the Hulu miniseries before the filmmakers encouraged her to do so.
But her reaction to one scene quickly brought the viewing session to an end.
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What happened when Elizabeth Holmes watched The Dropout?
According to Entertainment Weekly, Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, watched the series together in bed after Fielder suggested they give it a chance.
The moment that proved too much came during a scene featuring Seyfried as Holmes confronting Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, played by Hart Bochner.
In the scene, Seyfried's character shouts, "Get me the f---ing money."
Holmes subsequently began crying and asked Fielder to switch off the show.
The filmmaker obliged, ending the viewing session.
Seyfried played Holmes in The Dropout, which premiered in 2022 and dramatized the rise and collapse of the blood-testing company Theranos.
The performance earned Seyfried an Emmy Award, with the actress taking on the role of one of the most widely scrutinized figures in Silicon Valley's recent history.
The documentary, which was filmed largely over three years, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival last month before arriving in theaters on October 16.
Why was Elizabeth Holmes convicted of fraud?
Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 after leaving Stanford University, with the ambition of transforming medical testing by making blood tests more accessible.
The company attracted substantial investment, raising more than $700 million from investors by 2014.
However, serious questions about its technology emerged in 2015 following reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
Theranos had claimed its technology could perform a range of tests using just a small amount of blood. Scrutiny of the company's practices eventually led to criminal charges against Holmes and former business partner Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani.
Holmes was found guilty in January 2022 of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison in November that year.
Her case became one of the most prominent corporate fraud scandals in the United States, drawing attention to the promises made by technology start-ups and the responsibilities of their founders.
Holmes is currently incarcerated at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas, according to the supplied report.
According to Entertainment Weekly, earlier this year, a judge reduced her sentence, moving her projected release date to February 2030.
Topics: True crime, Film and TV
Thomas Bamford