Operation Varsity Blues

Overview

Operation Varsity Blues, also known as the 2019 College Admissions Bribery Scandal, refers to a high-profile bust of 50 people charged in a $25 million dollar college admission cheating scheme, including actresses Felicity Huffman (famous for her role in shows like Desperate Housewives) and Lori Loughlin (best known as Aunt Becky from Full House). The crimes included bribery and falsification of their children's records in order to get them into elite colleges. The sting, known as Operation Varsity Blues, broke in mid-March of 2019.

Background

On March 12th, 2019, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling announced that an FBI investigation had uncovered a network of wealthy parents who paid California man William "Rick" Singer thousands of dollars to boost their children's chances of getting into elite schools by bribing other students to take standardized tests for the children, bribing administrators to let it happen, and bribing college coaches and administrators to identify the students as athletes.^[1] This included photoshopping students to make it appear as though they were engaging in athletic activity.^[4] Singer plead guilty to charges. Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli agreed to pay $500,000 to help their two daughters' get to USC. Huffman and husband William H. Macy paid $15,000 to get one of their daughters unlimited time for her SAT test by feigning a disability and having a proctor correct her daughter's incorrect answers.^[2]

Developments

Neither representatives for Loughlin or Huffman have commented on the story as of March 12th, 2019. Both were arrested and released on $1 million and $250,000, respectively. Online, Twitter users expressed outrage at the crime. Twitter user @ClintSmithIII tweeted how it was unfair wealthy white Americans were afforded opportunities while people of color were met with scrutiny (shown below, left). TIME editor Anand Giridharadas said the scheme implied rich Americans were hungry for further advantages in society (shown below, right).

Others pulled up old tweets from Loughlin and Huffman which seemed hypocritical or telling of their involvement in the scheme. One such Huffman tweet read "What are your best “hacks” for the back-to-school season?" Tweets by Loughlin include one where she wrote "There are more important things than money, like doing the right thing. Words to live by." Loughlin's account has since been deactivated, and she has been removed from Hallmark and will not appear on the final season of Fuller House. Huffman's social media presence was also deleted.^[21] The old tweets were covered by The Daily Dot.^[3] Additionally, a controversy from August of 2018 when Olivia Jade Giannulli stated she only went to college for "game days and partying" resurfaced.^[5]

Others made memes which drew upon the pair's television history. Writer @jbillinson tweeted the logo of Full House to read "Big House," gaining over 1,300 retweets and 4,000 likes (shown below, left). User @sassyblackdiva tweeted a still from Desperate Housewives in parody of the charges brought against Huffman (shown below, right). These were covered by Buzzfeed.^[2]

Olivia Jade Giannulli

On August 14th, 2018, Beauty vlogger and daughter of Lori Loughlin posted a video about her acceptance into college. She essentially said that she was more interested in the parties and school games than the classes (shown below, left). The video accumulated 1.2 million views and 29,000 likes in seven months. On August 16th, Olivia Jade uploaded an apology video responding to comments that she was being ignorant of her privilege and ungrateful (shown below, right). The video gained 644,500 views and 26,000 likes in seven months.

On September 17, 2018, Olivia Jade^[6] posted a PrimeStudent ad to her Instagram account. The ad features her in her dorm room at the University of Southern California with a caption saying her dorm was was decorated with items bought from Amazon Prime. The ad received 178,000 likes in six months (shown below).

On March 12th, 2019, The @USC_Athletics^[7] Twitter account posted the "USC statement regarding the college admissions investigation" (shown below).

That same day, Twitter users responded to Oliva Jade's involvement in the investigation. Twitter user @elhammohamud^[8] tweeted "Olivia Jade’s next vlog: 😭GETTING KICKED OUT😭" (shown below, left). The tweet gained 41 retweets and 572 likes in a day. Many Twitter users claimed they knew it was strange that Olivia Jade was attending college (shown below, right).

On March 14th, Page Six^[23] reported that Olivia and Isabella Giannulli intended to drop out of USC for fear of bullying. Olivia has been dropped by sponsors Sephora, TRESemmé, and Estée Lauder.^[25]

Post-Scandal Life

On May 6th, 2019, TMZ reported that Olivia Jade had been continuing living the life "she wanted to live pre-USC". TMZ aired video of Jade at Fred Segal, a high-end clothing store, meeting friends for brunch. When published to YouTube, the video from the paparazzi footage of Olivia Jade received more than 52,000 views (shown below).

That day, US Weekly^[31] magazine reported that a source close to Olivia Jade had stated that she had moved out of Loughlin's house and into a new home, where she hoped to "start a new chapter". They continued, "Olivia is very much in the headspace [that] she wants to move forward from the scandal. She’s focusing on what’s next and not looking back."

Misconduct Hearing

On March 21st, TMZ^[24] reported that Olivia and Isabella Giannulli could face a misconduct trial at USC which could result in them being banned from the campus forever for being "disruptive individuals." USC insisted that the two are still enrolled at the school.^[25]

US Weekly Report

On May 26th, 2019, US Weekly reported that Giannulli was fully aware of the scheme her parents engaged in to get her into USC.^[32] They also reported that she was desperate to return to USC to help her image, with their source saying "She wants to come out looking like she’s changed, learned life lessons and is growing as a person, so she for sure wants people to think she is interested in her education." It has also been reported that she may have to testify against her parents.^[33]

William H. Macy

On March 12th, 2019, following the news that Huffman and husband William H. Macy arranged the fraudulent SAT testing, the Twitter account, @studentactivism^[10] posted the straight forward transcript, tweeting "He's SPOUSE in this phone transcript, arranging the fraudulent SAT" (shown below). The tweet gained 2,104 retweets and 5,325 likes in a day.

That same day, Twitter users reacted to the news by drawing connections to William H. Macy's role in Fargo to his current situation. Twitter user @sadydoyle^[12] tweet a picture of Macy on the phone in Fargo^[9] with the caption "William H. Macy on the phone with the admissions office right now" (shown below, left). the tweet accumulated 1,100 retweets and 5,700 likes in a day. @DaveThomas5150^[13] tweeted "From the comments: 'Authorities just released a photo of the two guys William H. Macy met with to start this process:'" attaching a picture from a scene in Fargo. The tweet garnered 1,600 retweets and 8,900 likes in a day (shown below, right).

On March 12th, Twitter user @kalebhorton^[11] tweeted, "Pretty crazy that William H Macy has a good shot of getting arrested for something every single William H Macy character would get arrested for" (shown below). The tweet gained 6,300 retweets and 43,000 likes in a day.

Lawsuit

In the wake of the scandal, Oakland woman Jennifer Kay Toy filed a $500 billion lawsuit in the San Francisco County Superior Court against Loughlin, Huffman, and other parents implicated in the scandal on the grounds that the actions of those implicated in the scheme prevented her son, Joshua Toy, from being admitted to several colleges in the scandal. Her son reportedly had a 4.2 GPA.^[20][22] She wrote:

“Joshua and I beleived [sic] that he’d had a fair chance just like all other applicants but did not make the cut for some undisclosed reason,” she wrote in the lawsuit. “I’m now outraged and hurt because I feel that my son, my only child, was denied access to a college not because he failed to work and study hard enough but because wealthy individuals felt that it was ok to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children’s way into a good college.”

Rick Singer

Rick Singer's YouTube channel contains only a few promotional videos for his company, The Key (shown below).

On August 20th, 2013, Singer uploaded three promotional videos explaining his method for helping Teens get into the college of their choice by boosting SAT scores and helping them to discover their "brand" (shown below). The videos gained only hundreds of views each in six years.

Rick Singer's YouTube channel was reported on by Buzzfeed News^[18] and The Daily Dot.^[19]

Indictments

On April 8th, 2019, reporter Chris Villani^[28] posted a list of parents pleading guilty with the caption, "#Breaking: 14 defendants, including Felicity Huffman, will plead guilty in connection with the College Admissions scandal 'Varsity Blues'" (shown below, left). The tweet gained 218 retweets and 356 likes in two days. An hour later, @ChrisVillani44^[29] tweeted a statement made by Felicity Huffman after her guilty plea (shown below, right).

On April 9th, @DMAnews1^[30] tweeted, "#BREAKING: 16 parents involved in #CollegeAdmissionsScandal indicted by federal grand jury in #Boston. Defendants will be arraigned in Boston at a date to be determined. https://go.usa.gov/xmrSC #CollegeCheatingScandal" (shown below). The tweet gained 366 retweets and 550 likes in a day.

Loughlin faces two counts which carry a maximum of 20 years in prison each, though as of May 30th, 2019, most feel it is unlikely she will serve 40 years in prison.^[34]

Online Reaction

On March 12th, 2019 Twitter users reacted to the news with disgust, outrage and humor. Twitter user @JohnGallasNJ^[17] noted that there is a Florida Man involved in the incident (shown below, left). The tweet gained 50 retweets and 360 likes in a day. @sonny_io^[16] tweeted "Rich people use their money to scam and get their dumb kids into a good college?!?!?! #collegeadmissionsscandal" sarcastically paired with a image of Ariana Grande holding a sign that reads "We Been Knew" (shown below, right). The tweet garnered 332 retweets and 1,200 likes in a day.

On March 13th, @dlnodots^[15] tweeted a a picture of Kelley Williams-Bolar and Tanya McDowell saying that they "enrolled their children into Public School Districts in which they did not reside. They were both jailed for these crimes. Should Felicity Huffman & Lori Loughlin be held to that same standard? #CollegeAdmissionsScandal 👩🏾‍🎓" (shown below, left). The tweet accumulated 30 likes that day. Twitter user @PaulRudnickNY^[14] parodied the situation by tweeting "Jared Kushner got into Harvard the right way, after his parents donated $2.5 million, and Ivanka attended Georgetown on a Modeling Fellowship, where she studied Advanced Pouting, Scrunchie Theory, and Saying Hi To Trees To Prove I'm Approachable" (shown below, right). The tweet accumulated 90 likes that day.

That same day Jimmy Kimmel Live uploaded a clip from the late night talk show featuring a commentary on the scandal. The video gained 46,400 views in a few hours (shown below).

Dr. Dre Troll

On March 23rd, 2019, hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre made a celebratory post to his Instagram about his daughter getting into USC. He included the caption, "My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!"^[26]

However, Dr. Dre deleted the post, possibly as a result of being reminded that he and Jimmy Iovine made a combined $70 million donation to the university, forming the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation.^[27]

Loughlin Birthday Wishes

On July 28th, 2019, Loughlin's daughters broke a near-six month social media silence with birthday messages to their mother. Bella Giannulli posted a photograph on Instagram^[35] with the caption, "happy birthday mama. I love you." The post received more than 77,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). That day, Olivia Jade also posted a photograph on Instagram^[36] with the caption "one day late. happy birthday. i love you so much." The post received more than 275,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Several media outlets reported on the posts, including the Cut,^[37] Uproxx,^[38] Daily Dot^[39] and more.

Search Interest

External References