A single pronoun in a 2023 New York Times profile has ignited a renewed public dispute, taking center stage in the new documentary film You Can See Everything
. The debate centers on whether disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes admitted to manufacturing her public image, or whether the newspaper misquoted her regarding how audiences and actors view her persona.
The disagreement revolves around a quote published after an interview conducted shortly before Holmes began her prison sentence for defrauding investors. According to The New York Times, Holmes stated regarding actors portraying her: They’re not playing me. They’re playing a character I created.
Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, contend that she instead said, They’re playing a character they created,
arguing that the public and media projected their own ideas onto her rather than acknowledging any deliberate fabrication on her part.
From Beach Walk to Documentary Screen
The origins of the disputed exchange trace back to a multi-day interview conducted ahead of Holmes’s imprisonment. The reporter behind the profile, Amy Chozick, explained that the specific remark was spoken while she and Holmes were walking a dog on the beach outside Holmes’s rental home in Del Mar, California, while Evans was away at the gym.
Chozick stated that she did not use a recording device during the walk, preferring to rely on handwritten notes taken in real time. She noted that discussions about the persona Holmes adopted during her time leading Theranos—including her signature deep voice, black turtlenecks, and red lipstick—had been a recurring theme throughout their extensive interviews. According to Chozick, Holmes told her that her former partner and business associate, Sunny Balwani, had pressured her to adopt the persona and kill Elizabeth,
an allegation that Balwani’s lawyer has denied.
The Battle Over Evidence and the Missing Notebook
In the documentary You Can See Everything
, co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, Evans attempts to challenge the profile’s accuracy. Evans asserts in the film that he recorded the interactions between Holmes and the reporter, and he plays a snippet of audio that does not contain the disputed quote. However, Chozick disputed the claim that all conversations were captured on tape, noting that formal interviews conducted at kitchen tables and couches were recorded by both parties, whereas informal moments and walks relied solely on her handwritten notes.
Chozick admitted that she no longer possesses the physical notebook from the reporting trip, explaining that she generally discards her reporter’s notebooks after a couple of years and did not anticipate the profile becoming a focal point in a future film years later. She confirmed that she reviewed her notes with her editors in 2023 following publication, at which point the newspaper considered the matter settled. The New York Times continues to stand by its reporting.
Unresolved Questions
The documentary leaves the core disagreement unresolved, offering no definitive proof to settle whether the newspaper misquoted the subject or whether Holmes is attempting to distance herself from her own admitted persona. While the filmmakers and publication offer differing perspectives on transparency and accountability, the exact truth behind the single-word pronoun shift remains locked in a he-said-she-said standoff with no surviving physical notes to provide final verification.