Rapper Meek Mill is facing intense backlash after an unexpected social media exchange with Elizabeth Holmes, the convicted Theranos founder now serving an 11-year federal sentence for defrauding investors.
Supporters of the hip-hop star and criminal justice reform advocate have expressed bewilderment and anger — many questioning why Meek would engage with someone convicted of a notorious financial scandal.
The unlikely connection started when Holmes posted on X seeking AI video creators. She said a friend was to pay $300 for any recommendations on who to hire, adding that she was “absolutely amazed seeing people’s creativity using these new tools.”
Meek responded positively to her call for creators. “We need more of this on social media,” he wrote.
We neeed more of this on social media https://t.co/ZoMYM623Db
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) September 24, 2025
Holmes seized the moment, thanking him and revealing her status before making a pitch, “Currently serving 137 month sentence in a federal institution. Would love to work with you on Reform. Here is some legislation I have drafted. Your story inspired me to keep fighting.”
The rapper replied, “Let me check your story out!!!” signaling that he might explore collaboration on reform initiatives.
Holmes linked to her American Freedom Act bill, an effort she says could help secure earlier releases for herself and others in the federal system.
Thanks Meek. Currently serving 137 month sentence in federal prison. Would love to work with you on Reform.
— Elizabeth Holmes (@ElizabethHolmes) September 24, 2025
Here is some legislation I have drafted. Your story inspired me to keep fighting. https://t.co/OE8Xxlz9Hp
According to The San Francisco Standard, Holmes’ recent flurry on X followed an update to her bio, reading “Mostly my words, posted by others.”
Her post on Aug. 26 — her first in nearly a decade — featured a Martin Luther King Jr. line about the arc of the moral universe bending toward justice. She has also interacted with tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, replying “Amen” and offering encouragement when he wrote about eccentricity and innovation.
His fans’ reaction was swift and harsh when Complex posted the story on Instagram.
“So meek really does fall for anything huh,” said one person. Another wrote, “wtf?????? Meek. Don’t man.”
Many critics argued Holmes’ case bears little resemblance to the systemic injustices REFORM Alliance targets.
“Nahh she can stay in there lol. Meek you’re work is needed with wrongful convictions or unfair sentences. Homegirl deserved whatever she got lol,” a commenter stated.
Another said, “Meek, please report back once you have checked her story out. Thank you.”
Others focused on the perceived privileges Holmes retains while incarcerated in a minimum-security facility in Texas.
find someone that looks at you the same way the NYT looks at Elizabeth Holmes pic.twitter.com/j417lIRxjp
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 10, 2025
“Talking about reform when she’s in a specifically for white collar crime. Way different type of prison, which is why she’s running a business and tweeting from there,” one person wrote about Holmes.
Those comments underscored concerns about unequal access to communications and influence inside the federal system compared with state or local facilities.
Holmes’ ongoing online presence is enabled by arrangements that allow some high-profile federal inmates to dictate messages to outside associates who post on their behalf.
Federal prisoners may use monitored tablets and have more structured channels for communication than many people behind bars in state systems, though they still lack direct internet access. Holmes’ posting pattern suggests she is relying on such intermediaries.
That reality contrasts sharply with Meek Mill’s past.
He was first arrested in 2007 on weapons and narcotics charges and later convicted of carrying a weapon without a license, possession of a controlled substance, and simple assault on a police officer, a series of convictions that ultimately led to him serving more than a year in jail.
Mill was originally sentenced in 2008 to 11 to 23 months in county prison, followed by eight years of probation, a term that was later extended multiple times.
The rapper’s incarceration in Pennsylvania state facilities, including time at Graterford and the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, offered far fewer communication privileges. During those stays, he would not have been able to tweet, highlighting different experiences of incarceration across systems.
Meek’s REFORM Alliance, which he co-founded in 2019 with Jay-Z, Michael Rubin and others, focuses on probation and parole reform.
The organization has backed laws in 12 states affecting about 75,000 people daily who are detained for technical violations — missed appointments, paperwork issues or minor travel infractions — and has helped push through 22 laws designed to curb unnecessary returns to custody, according to NBC News. Advocates estimate the issue drives roughly $2.8 billion in state spending each year.
Holmes’ conviction stands on very different ground. As Theranos CEO, according to the Department of Justice, she was found guilty of misleading investors — securing more than $700 million by falsely claiming the company had revolutionary blood-testing technology that could run hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood. That fraud not only deceived investors but also endangered patients who received inaccurate results.
Critics see the disconnect fueling outrage.
REFORM Alliance ostensibly spotlights systemic inequities trapping everyday people in supervision cycles. Holmes, meanwhile, embodies corporate fraud from privilege and power.
