Varsity Blues: Inside the college admissions scandal 5 years later
Five years ago, federal prosecutors in Boston rocked both the academic and entertainment worlds by unveiling charges against 50 people — including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman — accused of being involved in a nationwide college admissions scheme. Yahoo Entertainment’s David Artavia presents a guide to who’s who and what remains unresolved half a decade after the investigation dubbed Operation Varsity Blues.
Video Transcript
DAVID ARTAVIA: Five years ago, federal prosecutors in Boston rocked the academic and entertainment worlds by unveiling charges against 50 people in a nationwide college admissions cheating scheme dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. Wealthy parents including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were caught red handed paying to get their kids accepted at elite schools through less than honest means. The man behind the curtain Rick Singer worked under the guise of a college counseling service to make his clients' children appear to be top candidates, and some of the lengths they went to were frankly wild.
- In one example, the head women's soccer coach at Yale in exchange for $400,000 accepted an applicant as a recruit for the Yale women's team despite knowing that the applicant did not even play competitive soccer.
- Now when this all came out, it was really embarrassing for everyone involved. However, the two highest profile cases could not have been handled more differently. Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty right away, spent 14 days in jail, paid a fine, and did some community service. Her husband William H. Macy didn't really face much backlash at all. Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli, on the other hand, initially pleaded not guilty, and there was a bit more outrage from both the public and their daughter Olivia Jade. Eventually they accepted plea deals and spent two months and five months in prison respectively.
Rick Singer ended up cooperating with authorities but didn't avoid punishment. He was hit with a $19 million fine and 3 and 1/2 years in jail. And now five years later, the story is not over. There are still ongoing investigations and trials, and the entire college admissions apparatus has been forced to take an educated look at itself.