The limited series, “The Dropout”, has been a huge success for Disney’s streaming services, picking up a number of awards, including an Emmy, and it tells the story of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos.  This series is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?

“The Dropout” stars Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes and Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani. The limited series also includes guest stars Utkarsh Ambudkar, Kate Burton, Michel Gill, LisaGay Hamilton, William H. Macy, Elizabeth Marvel, Laurie Metcalf, Dylan Minnette, Alan Ruck, Sam Waterston, Michaela Watkins and more.

This past week, Adam Rosendorff, who was a key prosecution witness, whose testimony helped convict Elizabeth Holmes of fraud, has filed a lawsuit in New York State against the Walt Disney Company over “The Dropout”, stating that the show defamed him and portraying him as corrupt.  In the series, Kevin Sussman plays the role of Mark Roessler and is best known for playing the part of Stuart Bloom in the hit sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory.’

Adam is a licensed doctor and was a former Theranos lab director in the series. There was a character called Mark Roessler, who was apparently based on Adam, who helped cover up Theranos’ fraud by ordering the destruction of damaging lab results, falsifying records and engaging in other dishonest and unethical conduct.

According to the lawsuit, the portrayal of Mark Roessler has had a “devastating effect” on his reputation and career as a physician because the media and even acquaintances have concluded that the Mark Roessler character was based on him.

The filing said:

“At the time of the trial, (Rosendorff) was considered a heroic whistle-blower, a witness who was instrumental in the jury’s verdict convicting Holmes.  Now he has been falsely portrayed as a perjurer, a criminal, and of being completely unfit to practice his profession.”

Last year, Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty and sentenced to 11-1/4 years in prison for defrauding investors in Theranos, which was once valued at $9 billion.

The series is executive produced by showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether, Liz Heldens, Liz Hannah, Katherine Pope, Rebecca Jarvis, Victoria Thompson and Taylor Dunn. Michael Showalter directs multiple episodes and also serves as an executive producer along with his Semi-Formal Productions producing partner Jordana Mollick. Searchlight Television and 20th Television created the series.

You can watch “The Dropout” on Hulu in the United States, on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ around the world.

Source – Reuters

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

View all posts