David Mamet Defends Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy
Well-known playwright and screenwriter David Mamet recently spoke out to defend longtime friends Felicity Huffman and husband William H. Macy, who were implicated in a widespread college admissions bribery scam, reports Page Six.
Mamet penned an open letter, in which he criticized “elite universities” for having admission policies that were corrupt and unfair.
“Harvard was once sued for restricting the admission of qualified Jews; a contest currently being waged by Asians,” he wrote.
“The unqualified may be accepted for many reasons, among them, as Legacies, and on account of large donations made by their parents. I do not see the difference between getting a kid into school by bribing the Building Committee, and by bribing someone else. But, apparently, the second is against the Law. So be it.”
The 71-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner noted he’s known Macy for almost 50 years. They opened two theatre companies together. One, The Atlantic, is still open after 35 years. He wrote that he knew Felicity Huffman for all of those 35 years, as his student and colleague. She appeared in some of his films and three of his stage plays. Mamet said he was “crazy about them both.”
“That a parent’s zeal for her children’s future may have overcome her better judgment for a moment is not only unfortunate, it is, I know we parents would agree, a universal phenomenon,” he added.
“If ever there were a use for the Texas Verdict, this is it. For the uninitiated, the Texas Verdict is: ‘Not Guilty, but Don’t do it Again.'”
Macy has worked on several Mamet films, including Homicide, Wag the Dog, House of Games, and Edmond.
Huffman starred in Mamet’s Speed the Plow on Broadway in 1988. Seven years later, she won an Obie Award for her role in Mamet’s The Cryptogram. She also appeared in another Mamet play, Boston Marriage, in 1999, as well as the Los Angeles production of The Anarchist in 2015.
The Desperate Housewives star was one of the 33 affluent parents charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud to cheat on college-entrance exams and recruit student-athletes under false pretenses. She was indicted for conspiring with an allegedly dishonest college counselor, William “Rick” Singer, to illegally alter test scores. Huffman’s daughter, Sofia Grace, had her SAT score increased by 400 points.
Huffman and Macy also allegedly made a $15,000 “purported charitable contribution” to Singer’s “Key Worldwide Foundation,” which federal agents said he used to launder money and pay out bribes to others.
Macy has not been charged with any crimes.
David Mamet expresses sympathy for Felicity Huffman amid college bribery scandal https://t.co/UE1CGkFrSN pic.twitter.com/SWlCsz4L06
— Variety (@Variety) March 13, 2019
