Felicity Huffman is ‘Still Processing’ the College Admissions Scandal, Says Work-Life Has ‘Been Hard’

Almost half a decade following her 11-day stint in jail linked to the college admissions scandal famously known as Operation Varsity Blues, Felicity Huffman acknowledged the persisting challenge of overcoming the public disgrace rising from her wrongdoing, according to Page Six . In a recent interview, she said, “I walk into the room with it. I did it. It’s black-and-white.” Subsequently, she was asked about her current sentiments regarding the college admissions scandal. To this, she replied, “How I am is kind of a loaded question. As long as my kids are well and my husband is well, I feel like I’m well.”

In 2019, the Desperate Housewives star admitted guilt to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. This came up from paying William “Rick” Singer $15,000 to manipulate her daughter’s SAT scores. As reported by The Guardian , she served an 11-day jail term, paid a $30,000 fine, and fulfilled 250 hours of community service. During a poignant moment, Huffman’s response seemed detached as she glanced across the vacant rows of seats before her. She further said, “I’m grateful to be here. But how am I? I guess I’m still processing.”

Additionally, she mentioned that she hasn’t been very active in her professional pursuits since her release from prison in October 2019. Huffman said, “I did a pilot for ABC recently that didn’t get picked up. It’s been hard. Sort of like your old life died and you died with it. I’m lucky enough to have a family and love and means, so I had a place to land.” The unsuccessful pilot was a spinoff of The Good Doctor called The Good Lawyer . Huffman also acted in a pilot for an ABC comedy where she portrayed the owner of a minor league baseball team, but it didn’t get chosen for further development.

Furthermore, as one might anticipate, she has been met with a variety of responses from the public. She said, “I’m not in any way whitewashing what I did but some people have been kind and compassionate. Others have not.” Standing among her supporters was her good friend David Mamet, who penned an open letter stating that Huffman should’ve received the “Texas Verdict” in her case.  On this, she said, “I thought it was kind and brave of him to say something, regardless of what it was.” Additionally, she and her husband, William H. Macy, are the proud parents of Sophia Grace and Georgia Grace Macy.

Meanwhile, Sophia later took the SAT independently and got into Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Additionally, Huffman spoke up about her family’s challenging time last December. “People assume that I went into this looking for a way to cheat the system and making proverbial criminal deals in back alleys, but that was not the case,” she said, according to Page Six . Huffman clarified that she had collaborated with the singer, who was later found guilty of planning the scheme and had placed full trust in him. The Emmy winner added, “It felt like I had to give my daughter a chance at a future … which meant I had to break the law.”