‘The Dropout’: The Real Life Kevin Hunter Described Sunny Balwani Escorting Him to the Bathroom
After watching Hulu‘s The Dropout, viewers want to know more about the real-life Kevin Hunter (portrayed by Rich Sommer). According to the true crime drama, Walgreens hired the laboratory consultant in 2010 to vet Elizabeth Holmes’ (portrayed by Amanda Seyfried) Theranos technology. However, at the meeting shown in The Dropout Episode 4, Hunter never set foot inside a laboratory. Instead, he described, in detail, the awkwardness he felt at being escorted to the restroom by Ramesh Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews).
‘The Dropout’: Who is the real-life Kevin Hunter?
Kevin Hunter appeared in the ABC News podcast, The Dropout, to talk about Elizabeth Holmes and her initiative to put Theranos wellness centers into Walgreens stores. He explained that he grew up in the pharmaceutical industry from a young age. His family owned a small chain of drug stores in Albany, New York. Hunter’s LinkedIn profile indicates he is a “veteran laboratory professional” with over 20 years of experience.
His specific expertise is improving health systems, medical centers, and commercial labs. Hunter also provides leadership and mentoring for laboratories across the country. He sounds like a perfect fit for analyzing a blood-testing device based on his profile. However, he described the awkward situation he encountered when visiting the Theranos headquarters for Walgreens.
Kevin Hunter described the Theranos Walgreens 2010 meeting
While on the ABC News podcast, The Dropout, the real-life Kevin Hunter explained to investigative journalist Rebecca Jarvis the red flags he noticed while visiting Theranos for Walgreens. Like in the Hulu dramatization, The Dropout, he described the American flag that Holmes presented the Walgreens CFO Wade Miquelon with at the meeting. According to Balwani and Holmes, the flag was flown over Afghanistan. Hunter described the entire August 2010 meeting as odd.
“For example, when we would break to go to the restroom, they would literally walk us to the restroom and then walk us back so that we weren’t around to look around or talk to anybody,” Hunter explained.
When Jarvis asked who walked him to the bathroom, Hunter admitted that it was Sunny Balwani.
“Sunny would literally walk me to the restroom,” Hunter confirmed. “He would literally wait outside the bathroom door for me and walk me back.”
Holmes and Balwani took the Walgreens team for an afternoon dinner
After the meeting in an upstairs conference room, Kevin Hunter explained that (like in The Dropout) he never saw the laboratories. Instead, they insisted on heading to dinner.
“We did go out to dinner at 3:00 in the afternoon,” he continued. “We weren’t allowed to follow them. Instead, we had to meet them in the back room.”
Hunter described meeting Holmes and Balwani in the back room of a restaurant, although it was completely empty.
“I never got it to do anything that turned out a test result that could be correlated with anything,” he added about the Theranos device.
Kevin Hunter left the Walgreens Theranos project because he didn’t want to damage his reputation. He saw the red flags and knew he couldn’t be attached to something that was “not legit.”
Hulu releases new episodes of The Dropout weekly on Thursdays at 12:01 a.m. EST.
