SNL alum Kate McKinnon has dropped out of Hulu’s limited drama series “The Dropout” about the rise and fall of chemical engineering prodigy Elizabeth Holmes and her infamous startup health technology corporation Theranos.
Theranos raised $700 million from venture capitalists and private investors and was eventually valued at a massive $10 billion all due to Edison – an affordable device that could run many medical tests from a simple finger prick’s worth of blood – potentially revolutionising the $70 billion U.S. blood-testing market.
The problem was it was a lie – Holmes and her company fabricated results and constantly cut corners, putting lives in danger. After people caught on, Holmes personal net worth dropped from $4.5 billion to virtually nothing and she and others were charged with massive fraud by the SEC.
Hulu gave the series a straight-to-series order almost two years ago with McKinnon attached at that time to star in and executive produce. A search is underway for a new actress to play Holmes, with production targeting a summer start.
McKinnon remains committed to playing Carole Baskin in the limited series “Joe Exotic” to air on NBC, USA and Peacock.
Source: Variety
