Why the enviable marriage of Felicity Huffman to William H. Macy makes the scandal of admissions to college even more disappointing

For over 30 years, you can count on William H. Macy to be by Felicity Huffmanon the side of.

And you can always count on that. It's just that she needs her court support these days.

Huffman is one of 50 people charged with a massive university admissions scam, whose leader, Newport Beach businessman William "Rick" Singer, pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort money from justice, and now cooperates with the authorities. The code name of the FBI's investigation was, to the delight of the comics late at night, Operation Varsity Blues.

Huffman has been charged with conspiracy to commit postal fraud and honest service postal fraud, as has his fellow actress Lori Loughlin, the other name immediately recognizable when the charges were made public last Tuesday. Neither has yet introduced advocacy.

"Aunt Becky" jokes were generalized, and Loughlin's case was made more enjoyable by his daughter's video, Olivia Jadebeneficiary of the allegedly criminal acts of his parents to give him a place in USC – by announcing to the world his indifference to obtain a university education. But for all the nostalgic anxiety triggered by Loughlin Full house star, it's Huffman who is the real heartbreaker of the group.

And especially because of the way people see her in real life through the prism of her enduring and enviable relationship with Macy.

Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannullihe, the ultra-trendy brand of the '90s, Mossimo, led a relatively private life, with Giannulli not being an actor and Loughlin not being on the paparazzi's must-see list now, c & d # 39;). She has held a special place in the hearts of people as a star of some classic cult movies of the 80s, as well as Full house and more recently, Fuller House and Hallmark Channel Mysteries of the garage sale (which do not include it in their future projects).

Huffman and Macy are not an extravagant flamboyant couple by Hollywood standards, but they to have become a staple of Hollywood, one of those most admired red carpet couples, praised for their long marriage, their visible admiration for each other and what always seemed to be the charming and witty head on their shoulders respectively. They are also just that kind of actors that you dig, with Huffman showing the depth of his talent in everything Sports evening at Desperate housewives at American crime and Macy masterfully playing a deliciously messed-up character after another, most recently the abandoned patriarch Frank Gallagher Shameless.

They were together for nearly 15 years before attaching themselves to the knot in 1997, but were separated for a while before Macy offered for another (or second) time.

"Bill Macy asked me to marry him several times over the course of several years," recalls Huffman in Pittsburgh. Tribune-Review in 2015. "And I was finally smart enough to go:" I'm going to marry this guy or really lose him for good. " And after a break of four or five years, when he asked me again, I knew I could not say no. It was the job I had to do to get closer to the wedding, then the work I was doing. to be able to trust another person and see what comes out of that comfort and security. I was able to blossom. "

"I was actually her teacher at one point," Macy told CBS News in 2004, remembering when they had met at her home. David MametAtlantic Theater Company in New York in the early 1980s. "And I was hit, and it's been a long time since I like it." Huffman is 13 and, she recalls in 2011, "I think I had to convince him [dating] for a moment. I went to the countryside. It was certainly worth it. "

"When you're married for 100 years, everything is beautiful as a step back," tweeted Huffman on February 28 with a photo of their backtracking. "My partner in the crime since our meeting."

Children, hope you will never have to read your court papers about your #CouplesGoals heroes.

According to charges released last week by the US District Attorney's Office, "Huffman and his wife made an alleged charitable donation" of $ 15,000 to a nonprofit organization called Key Worldwide Foundation "for participate in cheating ploy at college entrance exams on behalf of her eldest daughter. "Criminal complaint says one unnamed cooperating witness," CW-1 "- known today under the name of Rick Singer – met Huffman and his wife at their home in 2017 and then explained "the operation of the college entrance examination system".

Huffman and Macy, who are only referred to as "spouses" in the indictment, are the parents of the girls Sofia, 18 and Georgia, 17.

The complaint continues: "According to CW-1, he reportedly told Huffman and his wife that he" controlled "a test center and that he could have a third party claim to monitor his daughter's SAT and correct then his answers in secret CW-1 informed the investigators that Huffman and his wife had accepted the plan. "

According to the charges, Huffman exchanged several emails with Singer in the summer of 2017 on "how to get 100% more time on the SAT for his girls". When College Board informed the eldest daughter that she had been approved for a "100% extension", Huffman sent Singer an e-mail and wrote to her: "Hooray! She had it."

When Huffman learned by e-mail that another supervisor was going to administer the test, she sent this message to Singer and wrote, "Ruh Ro! [my daughters’s high school] wants to provide his own supervisor. "This resulted in a modification of the plan so that the test could be administered by the agreed person on another site.

Meanwhile, the complaint continues, a participant in the program, CW-2, arrived in Los Angeles under the pretext of monitoring a SAT or ACT, but really to facilitate cheating ", either by correcting the answers of the l-39. student after the test, either by actively assisting him during the examination. "He duly" claimed to have undergone SAT examination of Huffman's daughter ". KWF paid CW-2 $ 35,000 for "purporting to monitor" the Huffman Girl Test and exams for several other CW-1 clients.

Also according to the complaint, Huffman "subsequently made arrangements to apply the program a second time to his younger daughter before deciding not to do so". On December 12, 2018, she and her wife were reportedly summoned to discuss a plan for their youngest daughter to also benefit from a shortcut test offered by CW-1. In this case, the SAT test is taken over two days. before his answers were corrected by CW-2.

When CW-1 asks, according to a partial transcript included in the complaint, "are we going to do the same thing we did with [your older daughter]…? "The spouse responds," Yes, I think we are. "

CW-1 continues: "We will make sure … we get a score that will be in the 14-[hundreds] or, or more, because we want to reach the schools we want to reach, correct? "

The spouse responds, "We're talking about Georgetown, places like-" "Yeah," CW-1 says, explaining that they should reach the mid-1400s at 3:00 pm (out of 1,600) to "be solid." CW-1 assures: "… it will score in the 700 in each category."

In February, the complaint indicated that Huffman "had expressed his fear" that a dramatic increase in the number of points "could cause his guardian SAT to suspect cheating". In the end, they "decided not to continue the SAT cheat scheme for their youngest daughter".

Prosecutors said Singer, whose so-called admission and coaching strategy called Edge College & Career Network, had begun cooperating last September and had agreed to wear a wire; He was charged and pleaded guilty of obstructing justice after informing some of his clients that the federal government was investigating him.

(And annals of really weird: Lynette Scavo, the character of Huffman on Desperate housewives, donated $ 15,000 for her twin sons to enter a private school, while one of Frank Gallagher's children Shameless ran a SAT scam.)

Huffman is currently free of a $ 250,000 bond, which means that she has nothing to pay to stay in jail, but that she must promise to pay if she does not. not present in court. She was forced to surrender her passport. Macy was at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles to support her when she pleaded her argument on March 12, and the couple was also seen walking hand-in-hand to the courthouse on Friday. Huffman's lawyer did not respond to requests for updates on what they were doing there.

The Emmy winner closed all her accounts on social media, but she was out on Wednesday hiking with Macy near their home.

Huffman and Loughlin must each appear in federal court in Boston on March 29.

The general scandal has shaken – if not surprised – the whole country with its detailed description of a higher education system in which the system could not be more stacked in favor of the rich and connected people. Again, this is not a shock given how many private elite colleges are reputed to take into account, for example, a student's family inheritance or the family's previous financial contributions to the family. campus in the admission process. This shameless display of privilege takes place in the open because it is perfectly legal.

One of the many and big questions asked in response to this story, however, is why Macy is not the subject of any charges, because in the complaint, he seems to be aware of the efforts being made to get Sofia , who is currently a high school graduate. , a higher SAT score, and discussed the possibility of doing something similar for Georgia. (Nothing in the indictment indicates that one or the other of the girls was aware of the alleged plan or was involved in any other way.)

But according to legal experts, talking about something supposedly is just not the same as doing it.

"It's a very interesting question, why William H. Macy was not charged," said Lisa Bloom, a litigator and family law lawyer, at E! News in a discussion about the case (Bloom does not represent anyone involved), "because it says in the complaint that he was part of it." But in criminal law, we look at the mental intent – did he know what he was doing?

"And it seems like it was part of the $ 15,000 contribution, but did he know it was for criminal purposes or did he think it was a legitimate contribution? We did not just do not know. "

The veteran criminal defense lawyer Murray Richman (also not involved in this case) explained to Vulture: "In the absence of active participation in the wrongdoing, the spouse will not be charged. The mere fact of knowing it, even with its presence, is not criminal behavior. " If a spouse is mentioned but not charged, he could be considered a "co-conspirator not charged," Richman said.

Now, it is possible that Huffman did not know that she was committing a crime. But what she is accused of doing, even though she thought she was simply giving all the benefits to her daughter because she could afford to … well …

"There is some kind of person who thinks it's good to lie a little bit for a greater good," said Macy. AND back in 2006 on the red carpet at the Police officer first, at the time, talk about the war in Vietnam raging when Robert Kennedy was killed. "But people who lie a little for greater goodness call liars and that's all."

And it was not an actor who spoke at a more innocent moment, before his hard life scraped his scruples.

the Shameless star repeated to Men's Journal In an interview published in February, the best advice he's ever received was: "Never lie, it's the most economical way." Lies cost you dearly and are never worth what. they cost."

Seriously, someone now makes a joke, as he was also asked what human qualities he despised the most.

"Dishonesty," Macy replied. "Self-delusion, lack of character, President Trump is sort of my touchstone for qualities I do not like."

When asked what living person he most admired, Macy said, "I got married very well. It's really fun to watch Felicity. I like the way she raises our girls. And his career, I feel lazy, slows down and slows down. lose my reader. My wife doubles. "

Whatever it was, he was definitely thinking of each of his words. These are the blinkers that people apply to themselves and to their beloved spouses. And, while he probably did not think too much about college, his kids were only 2 and 4 years old, but Macy thought so too. Entertainment tonight in 2004, he would not hesitate to use his status to help his daughters if they decided to embark on the show.

"We can help your children in this case, and nepotism works, and that's no problem for me," he said. "If I can give them a helping hand, I would do it absolutely – it's a great way to make a living, that's really the case."

But first, a university education.

"She's going to go to college," said Macy, who studied theater at Goddard University. Parade earlier this year when questioned about Sofia's plans. "I am the most singular person in this business, we are currently in the midst of a college application, which is so stressful, I vote that once it has been accepted, it will take maybe a sabbatical year God does not let you be twice 2. I know from the cast, if you need an actress of 25, 26 years old, there are a lot of them out there and they are really good.But if you need an actress 15, 16 years old actress, it's hard, Sofia looks young, I think it's an opportunity for her .

"But it's just my opinion, and we'll see what she wants to do, what Felicity thinks and how the chips fall." My daughter Georgia is interested in politics, political science and politics. the continuation of this project.It is in a very academic school and kills it. "

While the past few years have been particularly disappointed by the behavior of celebrities, the myth of the Hollywood golden boy, or the golden couple, has always been exactly that, a myth. Not necessarily because they have done something so bad, but simply because there is no one at the end of the day who is not an imperfect human being.

But it's not quite an impressionable audience that it's about really loving those two. There seemed to be a consensus on them.

"It's the nicest guy in the world, so you introduce that into the characters, then that character's beauty or goodness comes out." Door to door director Steven Schacter started talking about Macy at CBS News. "He will find kindness in that, and it's very attractive." Macy played the role of salesman Bill Porter in real life, which did not let cerebral palsy prevent him from going door-to-door cheerfully to peddle his wares and won an Emmy and the first of his four SAG Awards .

"I said hello, he said hello," said to Yahoo! Mona Shafer Edwards, court designer. Entertainment last week about sitting next to Macy while he and Huffman outlined it on Wednesday. "Then I started drawing – and I draw his wife – while he is sitting 3 inches from me." In drawing Macy, "he literally touches my shoulders." And then "he leaned over and said," You're really good. "I said thank you."

Huffman is also an actress who, despite many memorable characters passages, has not become a household name with Desperate housewives she participated in the rebirth of television in the mid-2000s, which included more fleshy roles for women of all ages. And that made it a more interesting and inspiring success story, as well as making it look more down-to-earth than the starlet who won the jackpot right away.

"When you've been in the business for a long time, and you've been stunned many times, as anyone else has done long enough, you're giving up on that dream," she explained. The Guardian in 2006. "All you really think is that you would like a job and get paid for it … Having a job for a few years when you are a freelancer changes your life."

And Huffman was refreshing to tell – a quality that everyone apparently looks for among celebrities these days – about her insecurities as a mother.

"I am not the greatest of mothers. I find motherhood very difficult, exhausting and frustrating, "she explained. "I feel that I'm going from one mistake to the other.I do not say that to get on a platform, but because that's what I really feel.I know this n & # 39; It's not everybody's experience and I'm not saying that – some people go ahead with a lot of harmony and balance, but there are people like me who do not do not do it, and they should be able to say it. "

More recently, she has described herself as a fearful person, telling the story Tribune-Review in 2015, "I wake up scared, I'm afraid of everything, everything is for me, I have to prepare the children's breakfast, I have to do everything, I guess I would do it to say that I felt as I'm a lazy girl.I'm sorry to be a lazy girl.I want to be a perfect girl, so I'm committed to doing it.I think it's like that i could put on the necklace of these different pearls. "

These feelings were tempered by the fact that she had an impressive support system at home. "My husband loves me," said Huffman Closer in February at the pre-Oscar brunch of Emily's list. "There is no accounting for the taste, but this man is totally in my corner." And when it comes to parenting, the most important lesson she has learned over the years is: "Be 100% more prepared than you think.

It's not that, as an indictment alleges, cheating to help her daughter have a better shot against an elite college does not mean that Felicity Huffman is not hardworking and grateful for her good fortune, neither that she and William H. Macy aren Do not really like it, or he is not the kindest guy you've ever met, whether he's working with him or to sit next to him in court. And that does not mean that they are still not big players.

It simply means that they are not so good.