Elizabeth Holmes profile allegedly caused turmoil at New York Times
According to a Vanity Fair report Wednesday, writers at the paper of record were questioned about the profile and how it came to be during a fraught all-hands meeting held the day that Holmes’ stint in federal prison started.
In the profile, Times writer-at-large Amy Chozick seems sympathetic toward her subject to the point of total flattery — as many critics pointed out. She admitted that she got “rolled” by her subject while describing her as “modest but mesmerizing” and “gentle and charismatic, in a quiet way” between anecdotes about roaming the San Diego Zoo with Holmes’ family and drinking “antioxidant smoothies,” the “Bonnie and Clyde”-esque details of her romance with California hotel heir Billy Evans and, of course, the events leading up to Holmes’ conviction.
Ellen Pollock, the Times’ business editor (who serves as a character in the Holmes profile), defended the write-up and reportedly said she didn’t “give a f—k” about the backlash when asked about the controversy. Pollock all but confirmed the sentiment in an email to Vanity Fair writer Charlotte Klein, saying that her mother would be “appalled to hear that I cursed in public.”
Others apparently pointed out the contradiction of the Times announcing it hired John Carreyrou, the reporter who exposed Theranos’ failures for the Wall Street Journal, just months before the softball profile was reported. (The announcement of Carreyrou’s hire, apparently, was also delayed to ensure that Holmes would talk to Chozick.)
Carreyrou, as well as star Times correspondent Erin Griffith, both read the piece, according to Vanity Fair. Both reportedly disliked it.
According to a Vanity Fair report Wednesday, writers at the paper of record were questioned about the profile and how it came to be during a fraught all-hands meeting held the day that Holmes’ stint in federal prison started.
In the profile, Times writer-at-large Amy Chozick seems sympathetic toward her subject to the point of total flattery — as many critics pointed out. She admitted that she got “rolled” by her subject while describing her as “modest but mesmerizing” and “gentle and charismatic, in a quiet way” between anecdotes about roaming the San Diego Zoo with Holmes’ family and drinking “antioxidant smoothies,” the “Bonnie and Clyde”-esque details of her romance with California hotel heir Billy Evans and, of course, the events leading up to Holmes’ conviction.
Ellen Pollock, the Times’ business editor (who serves as a character in the Holmes profile), defended the write-up and reportedly said she didn’t “give a f—k” about the backlash when asked about the controversy. Pollock all but confirmed the sentiment in an email to Vanity Fair writer Charlotte Klein, saying that her mother would be “appalled to hear that I cursed in public.”
Others apparently pointed out the contradiction of the Times announcing it hired John Carreyrou, the reporter who exposed Theranos’ failures for the Wall Street Journal, just months before the softball profile was reported. (The announcement of Carreyrou’s hire, apparently, was also delayed to ensure that Holmes would talk to Chozick.)
Carreyrou, as well as star Times correspondent Erin Griffith, both read the piece, according to Vanity Fair. Both reportedly disliked it.
