Hollywood stars Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman appear in court over US college admissions scam
- Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman entered no pleas to charges that they cheated and paid bribes to get their children into elite US colleges
Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin appeared in federal court alongside other wealthy parents on Wednesday to face charges in the college bribery scandal that has roiled the world of admissions and amplified complaints the system is stacked in favour of the rich.
The two actresses and Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, said little during the hearing in a packed Boston courtroom and were not asked to enter a plea. They remain free on bail. Several other parents were given similar hearings of a few minutes each.
The proceedings came three weeks after 50 people were charged with taking part in a scheme in which parents bribed coaches and helped rig test scores to get their children into some of the nation’s most selective universities, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California.
It was the biggest college admissions scheme ever prosecuted by the US Justice Department.
Loughlin, who appeared in the 1980s and ‘90s sitcom Full House, is accused along with Giannulli of paying US$500,000 to get their daughters admitted as recruits to the USC rowing team, even though neither is a rower. Authorities said the couple helped create fake athletic profiles for their daughters by having them pose for photos on rowing machines.
The Hallmark Channel, where Loughlin starred in popular holiday movies and the series When Calls the Heart, cut ties with her a day after her arrest.
Huffman, the former Desperate Housewives star, is charged with paying the admissions consultant at the center of the scheme US$15,000 to have a proctor correct the answers on her daughter’s SAT.
