Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have been arrested. The actresses were among 50 people charged with being involved in the largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted.
According to TMZ, the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed during a news conference that William Rick Singer was the ringleader of the scam, and that he created a fake non-profit charity to launder payments from parents, such as Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin under fire
Huffman and Loughlin were among 33 parents who reportedly paid enormous sums of money to singer to help their children cheat on college entrance exams such as the SAT and the ACT, as well as to bribe college coaches to accept their children under false pretenses.
These coaches allegedly claimed that certain applicants were recruited athletes, and the students athletic records were fabricated to show just that.
The feds say that these parents, which include wealthy company owners, a well-known fashion designer, and two actresses (Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin) knowingly conspired with Singer to cheat and buy college admission for their children.
Huffman and Loughlin are currently in police custody in L.A., where they are awaiting their time in court on Tuesday. Neither actress’ camp has made an official statement about the charges, and the feds say that Singer will plead guilty to racketeering charges.
Last year, Loughlin’s daughter, Olivia Giannulli, said in a YouTube video that she didn’t care about college, but that she did want to experience the partying and game days of being at a university. The Washington Examiner reports that she later apologized for the comments.
College admissions scandal blows up online
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“I said something super ignorant and stupid, basically. And it totally came across that I’m ungrateful for college — I’m going to a really nice school. And it just kind of made it seem like I don’t care, I just want to brush it off. I’m just gonna be successful at YouTube and not have to worry about school,” she said. “I’m really disappointed in myself.”
Meanwhile, People Magazine reports that Felicity Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy, once spoke out about how “stressful” the college admissions process was.
We’re right now in the thick of college application time, which is so stressful. I am voting that once she gets accepted, she maybe takes a year off. God doesn’t let you be 18 twice… But it’s just my opinion, and we’ll see what she wants to do, what Felicity thinks and how the chips fall,” Macy said in January.
While Felicity Huffman’s husband, William H. Macy was not indicted, Lori Loughlin’s husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was indicted on the charges.
