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Hollywood loves a comeback story.
From Martha Stewart to Mel Gibson, the entertainment industry has been known to welcome theirs with open arms. After enduring public scandals, many stars took a break from the limelight, ultimately bouncing off the A-list.
More than a year and a half after the college cheating scandal hit the headlines, actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin may be faced with two very different realities.
Huffman, who spent 11 days in jail after being released early from her two-week sentence for cheating on her daughter’s SAT test, hopes to return to television, after signing to cover a one-camera comedy which landed a pilot production engagement. at ABC.
Huffman and his representatives declined to comment for this story. But relatives of the Oscar-nominated actress say there was no shortage of interest from business partners, despite the admissions scandal. According to several insiders, after serving her short term, Huffman was courted by other Hollywood parties eager to work with her and showing no signs of skepticism, before signing on to Project ABC.
“From day one she just wanted to do the right thing and that’s what she did and that’s what she does,” says a source close to Huffman. “She is grateful that there is work for her.”
Meanwhile, Loughlin – usually the queen of Christmas television – is currently serving a two-month jail term in federal prison in Dublin, Calif., While Hallmark, the network that severed ties with the former of the “Full House,” airs its annual newsletter of vacation programming of which Loughlin was a key star.
While the notion of all-press-is-good-press is a long-standing mantra in showbiz, Huffman’s quick turnaround with a major network chord sheds light on the question of who gets a return to the era. of the “culture of cancellation”.
As famous actors, Huffman and Loughlin have become the main faces of the national agenda, although more than 50 people have been charged in connection with the conspiracy with 33 parents of college applicants accused of paying more than 25 million dollars, collectively, to William “Rick” Singer, the organizer who raised money from wealthy parents to fraudulently lead their children into elite universities, becoming the focus of the FBI, nicknamed “Operation Varsity Blues”.
Two months after federal prosecutors exposed the scam, Huffman pleaded guilty in May 2019 and became the first parent convicted in the case. (Her husband, actor William H. Macy, who stars in Showtime’s “Shameless,” has not been charged.) When speaking to the judge, Huffman, who accepted the responsibility from the start, was apologizes to all students and parents “who make a huge sacrifice to support their children and do so honestly.
“It feels like she handled a really bad situation and had her day,” Howard Bragman, longtime Hollywood crisis manager, says of Huffman. “She managed it with great humility, great class and great sincerity in the face of the gravity of the situation,” he adds. “It couldn’t have been done differently.”
Loughlin and her husband, multimillionaire fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have pleaded not guilty, maintaining their innocence for over a year. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in May 2020 – a year after Huffman – admitting to paying $ 500,000 to have their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, though they have never participated in sport.
Giannulli recently began his five-month sentence in federal prison near Santa Barbara, California, overlapping his wife’s two-month sentence, which is expected to end before the New Year.
While Huffman’s handling of the situation was widely seen as more appropriate than Loughlin (who signed autographs for fans on the steps of the courthouse arriving for a federal court appearance, after being indicted in 2019) , Huffman’s return to the business after his serious misstep is also due. to his level of work and his long standing positive reputation in the industry. The Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, who has a star on the Walk of Fame, is known to be adored by those she works with.
“People don’t have a reputation, people earn a reputation,” Bragman says. “The people of this town know who you are. She has proven herself and made a mistake in over decades of professionalism.
For three decades in the entertainment business, Huffman and Macy have largely remained out of the tabloid fray, and for the first time, actual behavior has served as a distraction on screen. At the height of the scandal, Huffman missed an Emmy nod for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Linda Fairstein in Netflix’s Ava DuVernay series “When They See Us.”
“Felicity is not a celebrity and she never has been,” says someone close to the actress. “Obviously it was going to take a while before she could work again. And she needed time. But that did not change his status.
The fallout from Loughlin, immediately, was more severe. After Hallmark was made aware of her involvement in the corruption scam, the network cut ties with the actress, halting all production and development with Loughlin, who had starred in a handful of their Christmas movies made for the television, as well as producing and starring in two series, Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart” and “Garage Sale Mystery” on Hallmark Movies & Mystery. While grappling with legal issues, Loughlin also left the final season of Netflix’s “Fuller House”, the sequel to the Full House series, which made her a household name in the ’90s and he gave endless nostalgic fandom as Aunt Becky.
Asked about Loughlin’s current relationship with the network, a spokesperson for Hallmark’s parent company Crown Media said, “We are not commenting at this time.”
According to those close to him, Loughlin would focus on his sentence, even before considering a return to Hollywood. Although she has no plans on the horizon after prison, Loughlin would like to start acting again.
“She enjoys playing very much and would love to work again,” says a source in Loughlin’s inner circle. “His greatest passion has always been the theater. She’s been doing it since she was a teenager. This is what she would love to do.
Loughlin’s rep declined to comment for this piece, but someone close to the actress said there are no plans in the works, regarding future work or a publicity plan to stage her return, as Loughlin always focuses on the legal aspects of the case. her and her husband.
“There is no discussion about work when you know you have to go to jail. Until the legal file is put behind her, there is no discussion of anything with anyone, ”says a person familiar with Loughlin’s situation. “Nothing is settled until she has served her time, done her duty and put it behind her.
While Huffman has been on a major broadcast project before, for the two actresses how they move forward will be crucial as they strive to return to American living rooms. Every new show or movie comes with a press tour, and even after sitting down with an esteemed reporter for the most perfectly conducted mea culpa, in the age of Twitter and Google, this story will follow the attendees. to college scandal for years. .
The differences in the way Huffman and Loughlin handled the situation are certainly noteworthy in the court of public opinion, the greater the gravity of the charges. Loughlin committed more egregious crimes than Huffman, who admitted paying $ 15,000 for his daughter’s faulty college admission, compared to the half a million dollars paid by Loughlin and her husband, who were instrumental more active in the scandal.
“Lori won’t have time to come back so easily for several reasons,” Bragman predicts. “Lori was not cast in the line of parts that Felicity was. And I don’t think she handled the situation as skillfully as she could have been – to put it mildly.
Whether a network or studio will play on Loughlin remains to be seen. But in casting Loughlin or Huffman, there is a risk of public alienation, especially in the midst of a pandemic that has resulted in soaring unemployment for millions of Americans, who may very well perceive the college scandal as a high level case. law; not an honest mistake.
ABC – which has a long history with Huffman, who starred on “Desperate Housewives” and was nominated for Lead Actress Emmy for all three seasons of “American Crime” – declined to comment for this story or make an official. network available for an interview, at the moment. But insiders familiar with Huffman’s new project say those involved in the show are excited to be working with her.
“These two women have to do a catharsis interview,” advises Bragman, who is a contributor to ABC News and founder of La Brea Media, to Huffman and Loughlin.
However, the Hollywood fixer points out an issue with the media coverage and public consumption of the entire college admissions scam.
“It was never a Hollywood scandal. It was a scandal of wealth and power, ”he says. “Felicity and Lori became the poster children, only because they were the best known, but that’s the price to pay as public figures, seen by millions of people who feel like them. know for decades. No one said it was fair.
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