Billy Evans, the partner of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, recently appeared on the popular "All-In" podcast to shed light on why the couple made the controversial choice to allow a documentary film crew inside their private residence during the tense final days before Holmes began serving her federal prison sentence. The podcast appearance coincided with the theatrical release of "You Can See Everything," an acclaimed documentary directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. The film has generated significant critical praise, universal acclaim, and even early Oscar buzz following its high-profile world premiere at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival just last month. Despite the widespread attention the project has received across the entertainment and documentary filmmaking landscapes, Evans candidly admitted during his podcast interview that he has not yet actually watched the finished movie.
The documentary captures an intimate and unprecedented look at Holmes and Evans as they navigated the final countdown to her incarceration. Holmes was ultimately sentenced to 11 years in federal prison following her high-profile fraud trial related to the collapse of her blood-testing startup, Theranos. During the "All-In" interview, Evans explained the core rationale behind opening their doors to filmmakers at such a vulnerable and turbulent moment in their lives.
According to Evans, the context surrounding the decision was rooted in the strict legal and public constraints placed upon Holmes as her legal battles concluded. "The context going in is Elizabeth is facing an 11-year sentence," Evans explained to the podcast hosts. "She’s been prevented from speaking publicly in any way, shape or form and this would come out after that period in which she is now allowed to talk. There’s been a lot of media produced on her. There’s been a lot of people who have told her story. That narrative is pretty ossified. The whole idea was here she is, see her and make up your own mind. It’s not to re-litigate the case. Practically, at this time she was not allowed to talk about the case, so she was gonna follow the rules and not talk about the case."
Evans further elaborated that the primary objective of participating in the documentary was to offer audiences a direct glimpse into Holmes’s everyday persona, free from the overwhelming media storm that consumed public perception for years. He compared the documentary’s intent to his own personal experiences with friends and family members when they first learned about his relationship with Holmes.
"It was to have people see who she is," Evans continued during the discussion. "I have gone through this consistent experience with the people who love me most, from my grandmother to my best friends. They’d hear I knew Elizabeth Holmes or I was falling for this person and now we’re going to have a kid… in the beginning, every single one of these people thought I was crazy. ‘Do you know who she is?’ I would tell them, ‘I understand why you feel that way but just meet her.’ And they would meet her and spend time with her and see her in a totally natural environment, like going on a hike or helping a friend. Every opinion of her would radically shift. That was the intention of the film. To help scale that up and allow other people to sit with her and make up their own minds."
Despite these carefully laid intentions, it has become increasingly apparent that the decision by Holmes and Evans to grant filmmakers intimate access is backfiring in the court of public opinion. Rather than softening the public’s view or fostering sympathy, "You Can See Everything" has seemingly amplified the intense public backlash, skepticism, and deep distrust directed at the former Theranos chief executive.
The friction surrounding the project began even before the movie was screened for the press corps. Independent film studio A24 dropped a chilling teaser trailer ahead of the release that immediately unsettled viewers. The promotional clip featured stark imagery and showcased Holmes making controversial assertions claiming that she did not do anything wrong while running Theranos, prompting widespread social media commentary and public unease regarding her demeanor and accountability.
Addressing the unsettling nature of the promotional material, Evans confessed that the marketing campaign has not done the couple any favors, acknowledging that the project could ultimately prove detrimental to how they are perceived. "I haven’t seen it. I might think this is the dumbest thing I have ever done," Evans admitted on the podcast. He went on to concede that Holmes "looks insane" in the trailer released by A24, while also pointing out that artistic choices made by the filmmakers—"especially the music" featured in the promotional clip—harbor a distinctly anti-Holmes perspective.
When pressed about whether he feels anxious regarding the public reaction to the film and the ongoing scrutiny, Evans maintained a stoic demeanor, reflecting on the extraordinary series of events that have defined his life over recent years. "Am I nervous? I have been through so many intense, surreal experiences that it takes a bit to raise my blood pressure," Evans remarked. "With this there’s certainly concern but it’s ultimately our decision."
The relationship between Holmes and Evans has been a subject of public fascination since they first crossed paths in 2017, well before the collapse of Theranos and the subsequent federal trials that captured global headlines. The couple has since built a family together amidst the legal turmoil, welcoming their first child, a son named William, in 2021. Their family expanded further with the birth of their daughter, Invicta, in 2023. As "You Can See Everything" continues its theatrical rollout and dominates cultural conversations, Evans’s candid assessment on the "All-In" podcast provides a rare behind-the-scenes window into the calculations of a couple attempting to reshape a heavily calcified public narrative from the shadow of an impending prison sentence.
