The New York Times was thrown into the center of controversy over the weekend in response to the new “profile” of Elizabeth Holmes, the doomed founder of blood testing company Theranos.
Holmes is about to begin serving a sentence of more than 11 years in prison for orchestrating a plan that investors defrauded of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The note that sparked strong debate mentions that Elizabeth now prefers to be called “Liz,” loves antioxidant smoothies, is a loving mother to her two young children, likes to order Mexican food, avoids violent movies, and has volunteered in a hotline to assist women victims of sexual violence.
“It must be recognized that Liz fascinated me as an authentic and likeable person,” wrote the journalist in the article. “She’s gracious and charismatic, in a quiet way.”
He added: “If you are in her presence, it is impossible not to believe her, not to be carried away by her and be welcomed by her”.
The report also included photos in which Holmes and his partner, Billy Evans, They pose with their two children against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.
The online reaction was fierce.
“Perhaps this article would have been more helpful with a discussion of sociopaths,” tweeted political commentator Matthew Dowd.
“It feels good to be a beautiful white woman who casts her spell on a NYT reporter,” tweeted former CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, who lashed out at reporter Chozick.
Scott Budman, a reporter covering the Theranos trial, tweeted, “The last line of the New York Times story is incorrect.”
“It’s possible to be in his presence and not fully believe it. Questioning is what we do for a living,” she wrote.
Another Twitter user wrote: “For every brilliant article you see trying to rehabilitate Elizabeth Holmes’ image, I want you to remember something... personally approved a 15-month clinical trial using a device he knew was useless, to measure the levels of anticancer drugs in the blood of patients with terminal cancer.
Twitter user Sean Tuffy tweeted, “Women find a man who loves you as much as the NYT loves clearing the reputation of white collar criminals.”
Holmes, who has been out on bail since a jury convicted her of four counts of fraud and conspiracy in January 2022, he was due to start his prison sentence on April 27.
He managed to avoid the start of his sentence late last month, when his lawyers appealed the federal judge’s ruling ordering his jail term.
Holmes’ lawyers – convicted of defrauding his company’s blood testing technology – said he was prevented from giving exculpatory statements by another convicted fraudster, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her ex-boyfriend who was also the president of Theranos.
Balwani, convicted of several wire fraud and investor fraud offenses, was sentenced last December to 13 years in prison.
Theranos was a highly touted Silicon Valley technology company that raised about $1.3 billion from various investors. which he tricked into believing that his blood test technology for diagnosing disease through a finger prick was effective.
The publicity surrounding claims that it was a breakthrough technology earned Holmes celebrity status which included favorable comparisons to technology pioneers such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.