On the same day that Elizabeth Holmes reported to prison in Texas to begin her 11-year sentence, Amanda Seyfried, who played her in the Hulu series “The Dropout,” said that the sentence is “fair” for the convicted Theranos founder.
“Life’s not fair, but in a lot of ways it’s fair. It’s fair for her, in particular,” said Seyfried of Holmes on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday while promoting her new series, “The Crowded Room” on Apple TV+.
The actress did have sympathy for Holmes having to leave her two young children. “I feel for those kids,” Seyfried said. “There’s two kids that are hanging in the balance here. As a parent, I’m just like… As a mom, I don’t know.”
Holmes was convicted in January 2022 of defrauding investors in her tech company. She will serve her sentence at F.P.C. Bryan, a minimum-security prison camp for women in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.
Holmes founded the company in 2003 when she was only 19. She falsely claimed that a Theranos blood test could detect a variety of health conditions using only a few drops of blood, a claim that helped raise more than $700 million from venture capitalists and private investors. The company was valued at $10 billion in 2013 and 2014.
In addition to serving time, Holmes was also ordered to pay $452 million in restitution.
Seyfried won an Emmy in 2022 for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for “The Dropout.”