Felicity Huffman Reflects on Ongoing Remorse Following Participation in Nationwide College Admissions Scandal
Felicity Huffman reflects on her role in the infamous college admissions scandal, expressing deep remorse and a lasting sense of shame Discover her candid revelations in this compelling article
Reflections from Felicity Huffman indicate that she experienced enduring shame after her participation in the 2019 college admissions scandal. Huffman, 60, shared with ABC-7 Eyewitness News on Thursday, November 30, that her involvement with the nonprofit organization A New Way of Life stemmed from a deep desire to provide her daughter with opportunities for the future, even if it meant breaking the law.
During an interview on Thursday, Huffman addressed her involvement in the scandal for the first time. She admitted to paying $15,000 to manipulate the results of her daughter Sophia Macy's SATs, without her daughter's knowledge. Huffman shares daughters Sophia and Georgia, 21, with her husband William H. Macy. Additionally, Huffman clarified that she did not initiate contact with William "Rick" Singer, the orchestrator of the "Operation Varsity Blues" scheme, but he was the one who initiated their involvement.
“After 12 months, he began saying, ‘Your daughter won’t be accepted into any of her desired colleges,’” Huffman remembered. “I trusted him. And so, when he gradually introduced the illegal plan, it felt like — and I know this sounds insane now — but that was the only way to ensure my daughter's future.”
Felicity Huffman, accompanied by her husband William H. Macy, leaves the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston after being sentenced for her involvement in the College Admissions scandal on September 13, 2019. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
Huffman initially believed that she would be failing as a mother if she didn't assist her daughter at any cost. However, the Desperate Housewives actress began to reconsider on the morning of Sophia's SAT.
“She kept asking, ‘Can we go for ice cream after this? I’m really nervous about the test. Can we do something fun?’ And all I could think was, ‘Just turn the car around’,” she recalled about her oldest daughter. “And to my everlasting regret, I didn’t.”
In March 2019, it was confirmed that Huffman was taken into custody at gunpoint for her role in the college admissions scandal.
Upon her arrest, she expressed disbelief, telling an FBI agent, "Is this a joke?" Huffman later admitted to fraud charges, leading to a 14-day prison sentence which she served 11 days of in October 2019. Additionally, she was fined $30,000, required to complete 250 hours of community service, and put on one year of supervised release. This was completed in October 2020. Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were also implicated in the scandal and served a brief prison sentence.
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Sophia retook her SATs and was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University in April 2020. "I believe the academic community, the students, and the families who genuinely sacrifice and work hard to achieve their goals are the ones I owe a debt and an apology to," she mentioned during the interview on Thursday.
