Julia Roberts weighed in on the college admissions scandal involving fellow actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, calling it “sad” that the parents involved did not have faith in their children to get into colleges on their own merits.
Roberts, who has three children with husband Daniel Moder, was on Scottish TV host Lorraine Kelly’s show to promote the U.K. release of Ben Is Back with co-star Lucas Hedges when she was asked about the scandal that exploded on Tuesday.
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“To bring the college situation into the mix, that to me is so sad because I feel from an outsider that it says a little bit ‘I don’t have enough faith in you,” the Homecoming star told Kelly. “In this story [Ben Is Back], this mother is trying to say, ‘I have both of our faiths until you can find the faith in yourself again.’”
Roberts further explained that she has always wanted to make sure her children do not face the same struggles she had as a child, but still wants to make sure they are their own person.
“From the kind of childhood I had, I raised my kids now, I don’t want them to have to have some of the struggles I had,” the Oscar-winner said. “But at the same time, you do need to know how to make your bed and how to do your laundry and how to be able to make one meal, these are important life skills. They have to run their own race, they have to have their own experience.”
Roberts is not the only Hollywood mom to speak out against the scandal. Her Runaway Bride co-star Rita Wilson told Busy Tonight host Busy Phillips bribing college officials is “so unethical and disturbing.”
“It is so unethical and disturbing because there are kids who work really hard that are on financial aid who are desperate for a spot in any college,” Wilson said. “It is also insulting to the colleges that are not considered elite as if there’s somehow different or you’re getting a different education. It doesn’t matter, it’s all about hard work.”
Loughlin and Huffman were two of 50 people charged in the largest national college admissions scam uncovered by federal authorities. According to prosecutors, The Key Worldwide Foundation helped parents cheat on SATs or bribe admissions officials at different colleges to get their children accepted.
In the case of Huffman, prosecutors say the Desperate Housewives actress paid $15,000 to have her older daughter’s SAT answers “corrected.” Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to help their daughters get accepted to USC as crew recruits, even though they never participated in the sport.
Photo credit: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
