LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: For the first time, Felicity Huffman is discussing her involvement in the college admissions scandal 'Operation Varsity Blues', which led to her serving an 11-day prison sentence after it was made public in 2019.
Huffman engaged in a plea deal for conspiring to conduct mail fraud and legitimate mail fraud after collaborating with Rick Singer, a 'college admissions counselor', to manipulate her daughter's SAT scores.
In a recent interview with ABC-7 'Eyewitness News', Huffman, 60, claimed she "felt like I would be a bad mother if I didn’t do it," though she knew that she used drastic and illegal means to guarantee her daughter's academic achievement.
Felicity Huffman drags 'Black and Brown community' in scandal
The 60-year-old 'Desperate Housewives' star and Oscar-nominated actress discussed the criminal conspiracy in an interview with ABC-7 that aired on November 30.
Rich high school parents, such as celebrities Huffman and Lori Loughlin, 59, were accused of employing fraud, bribery, and cheating to get their children into prestigious universities.
In her explanation, Huffman stated that she "trusted him implicitly" throughout her time spent with William "Rick" Singer, a fake college counselor who was ultimately found guilty of orchestrating the scam.
Huffman said, "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."
Following an investigation into the operation, the FBI charged 33 parents—including Huffman—federally for their roles in the scheme.
Dragging the colored community, Huffman said, "They came into my home. They woke my daughters up at gunpoint. Again, nothing new to the Black and brown community."
"Then they put my hands behind my back and handcuffed me and I asked if I could get dressed. I thought it was a hoax. I literally turned to one of the FBI people, in a flak jacket and a gun, and I went, ‘Is this a joke?'" she added.
The government's criminal probe, known as 'Operation Varsity Blues', played a part in the scam's collapse.
In 2019, Huffman was imprisoned for 11 days after she paid convicted scandal mastermind Singer $15,000 to have her daughter's SAT exam results manipulated.
In September 2019, the Emmy winner received a sentence that included 250 hours of community service, a $30,000 fine, and 14 days in jail.
She spent only 11 days in prison before volunteering at 'A New Way of Life,' a group that supports women who have been released from prison to start life afresh, per Page Six.
Promoting women’s nonprofit 'A New Way of Life'
Speaking up, Huffman hopes to raise awareness of 'A New Way of Life,' a women's nonprofit where she fulfilled her community service requirements as mandated by the court.
According to their website, A New Way of Life provides women who are suffering with homecoming with "housing, legal services, workforce and education development, and advocacy."
Founder Susan Burton said of Huffman, "I thought we would bring her in and put her at a desk and have her work in the office. And she said, ‘No — I want to do real work.’"
"And she just organized all of our closets and donations. She went jogging down Central Avenue in South LA and created exercise classes for the women," Burton added, per Variety.
Huffman further claimed that although Singer had come highly recommended to her, it took her some time to figure out whether or not his plans entailed any unlawful conduct.
Singer had set up a bribery and fraud structure to provide wealthy parents an advantage over other applicants for their children's college admissions. Singer's conduct resulted in a sentence of three and a half years in jail.
Internet trolls Felicity Huffman for involving 'Black and Brown' community
The 'Desperate Housewives' actress did her best to explain the turmoil she went through post the college admissions arrest fiasco, however, Internet users did not seem to budge.
Adding fuel to the fire, online users took offense at Huffman dragging the "Black and Brown community" in the widely publicized scandal.
One such user trolled the actress and wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "“Nothing new to the Black and Brown community” Girl don’t bring us into this"
A second one mocked, "Are we supposed to feel bad for her or something?"
"What did she mean? Trying to bring the black and brown into this?" questioned another one.
Another one snarked, "How did the black and brown community get dragged into this?"
One more seethed, "This is beyond absurd! Equating a raid due to fraudulent college admissions with systemic injustices faced by Black and brown communities is an insult. Huffman's comparison is as preposterous as a unicorn playing poker – just plain fantasy!"
"Is she trying, desperately to get canceled? Because we didn't really cancel her much the first time, and that's on us obviously," noted another one.
