David Mamet Defends Felicity Huffman: 'Admissions Policies Are an Unfortunate and Corrupt Joke'
Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy‘s longtime friend David Mamet is defending their character.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, 71, wrote an open letter published by the Hollywood Reporter in which he talks about his over 30-year friendship with Macy, 69, and Huffman, 56.
Huffman was indicted on fraud charges after she allegedly paid $15,000 to have a proctor secretly correct her daughter’s SAT scores. She was arrested and released on a $250,000 bond on Tuesday afternoon.
RELATED: Felicity Huffman Pictured for the First Time Since Her Arrest After Posting $250,000 Bail
“I worked for very many years in and around our Elite Universities. I am able to report that their admissions policies are an unfortunate and corrupt joke,” Mamet 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.”
Huffman was charged by federal prosecutors with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
Federal court records unsealed Tuesday in Boston name 50 people, including Huffman and Fuller House actress Lori Loughlin, who have been indicted as part of the alleged nationwide scheme, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
Federal agents secretly recorded telephone calls with Huffman and a cooperating witness, which allegedly show Huffman agreeing to pay the large sum of money in order to help Sofia, 18, get a higher SAT score, the indictment states.
WATCH: William H Macy Arrives at Federal Courthouse in LA
Mamet goes on to outline how he’s known and worked with Macy for over 50 years and has known Huffman for 35. Mamet sympathizes with Huffman for wanting to do what she thought was best for her child, even if he says it was bad judgment.
“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,” Mamet wrote. “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.’ “
Huffman’s next preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 29 at a Boston court, Deadline reported.
