Felicity Huffman is opening up about her involvement in the college admissions scandal!
In her first interview since the ordeal, the Desperate Housewives alum spoke to ABC-7 Eyewitness News on Thursday. She revealed why she got involved in the criminal conspiracy. As we all know, many wealthy parents, including Lori Loughlin, were convicted of bribery, cheating, and other forms of fraud for tricking the system into getting their kids into elite colleges.
The scheme, known by the feds as Operation Varsity Blues, was run by mastermind William “Rick” Singer, who forged the results of Felicity’s daughter’s SAT exam. Explaining how she agreed to this, the actress said:
“People assume that I went into this looking for a way to cheat the system and making proverbial criminal deals in back alleys, but that was not the case. I worked with a highly recommended college counselor named Rick Singer. I worked with him for a year and trusted him implicitly; he recommended programs and tutors and he was the expert. And after a year, he started to say, ‘Your daughter is not going to get into any of the colleges that she wants to.’ And so, I believed him.”
Damn! This was really a long game for him. And it’s so sad she believed her own child wouldn’t be able to get into any schools!
Related: Real Estate Mogul Convicted In College Admission Scandal Dead By Suicide
Once Rick planted this seed, the 60-year-old couldn’t shake the idea, she continued:
“When he slowly started to present the criminal scheme, it seemed like — and I know this seems crazy at the time — that that was my only option to give my daughter a future. I know hindsight is 20/20 but it felt like I would be a bad mother if I didn’t do it. So, I did it.”
She added:
“It felt like I had to give my daughter a chance at a future. And so it was sort of like my daughter’s future, which meant I had to break the law.”
Oof. Understanding what she was doing was wrong, she didn’t tell her daughter Sophia what was happening — even though she was wracked with guilt before dropping her off at the SAT exam, saying:
“She was going, ‘Can we get ice cream afterwards? [I’m] scared about the test. What can we do that’s fun?’ And I kept thinking, ‘Turn around, just turn around.’ To my undying shame, I didn’t.”
The Georgia Rule star paid the faux college admissions expert $15,000 for the results of her child’s test to be falsified. But, of course, she didn’t get away with it. Months later, she recalled:
“[The FBI] came into my home. They woke my daughters up at gunpoint.”
Showing up at gunpoint over a cheating scandal?! That’s INTENSE! Despite getting handcuffed on the spot, she “thought it was a hoax,” adding:
“I literally turned to one of the FBI people in a flak jacket and a gun, and I went, ‘Is this a joke?'”
Wow! She ultimately pleaded guilty in court and served 11 days of her 14-day prison sentence in October 2019. She also completed her court-ordered 250 hours of community service and supervised release for one year the following October. Her husband, William H. Macy, was not charged and Sophia retook the test and got into Carnegie Mellon University‘s theater program, where she is currently studying. See?! Her momma NEVER had to do this in the first place!!
Now, Felicity is committed to using her platform for good. Part of the reason she sat for the honest interview is to raise awareness for the charity she did her community service with and is now on the board of, A New Way of Life. It’s a non-profit that helps formerly incarcerated women with housing, job training, clothing, and more. She explained:
“I want to use my experience and what I’ve gone through and the pain to bring something good.”
She also apologized to “the academic community and to the students and the families that sacrifice and work really hard to get to where they’re going legitimately.” You can hear the full interview (below):
Well, at least she’s helping this worthy org… Thoughts?! Sound OFF (below)!
Related Posts
