John Legend Sounds off on College Admissions Scandal: ‘The System Has Been Rigged’

When John Legend was asked to weigh in on the college admissions scandal currently rocking the nation, the award-winning singer and songwriter couldn’t hold back his feelings.

During an interview on the red carpet of the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Wednesday, the singer, who attended the University of Pennsylvania studying African-American literature, targeted the college admissions process as a whole.

“I think it’s a longer conversation because I think a lot of people look at this rightly as fraudulent and dishonest,” Legend told Entertainment Tonight. “But the bottom line is, the system has been rigged for wealthy people for a long time. The admissions system rewards people’s parents being wealthy and people’s parents having gone to a certain school. There’s not a lot of legal ways to do that that still aren’t really that fair to a lot of other people.”

Legend’s comments come on the heels of his wife Chrissy Teigen poking fun at the situation on Twitter. Positing Photoshopped images of herself and others as soccer players, the former model, author, and television personality added, “Does this look real? we are trying to get into harvard.”

She tagged and included Legend, director Mike Rosenthal, and hairstylist Jen Atkin.

Many others have commented on the scandal as it continues to grow and more details become clearer. Olivia Munn didn’t hesitate to criticize those involved, including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, saying their decision “wasn’t for love, it was for fancy diplomas.”

Actor Rob Lowe also criticized the scandal by saying he was “very proud of my honest, hardworking sons.” His son also criticized the parents involved, calling their actions “horrible” and their kids “undeserving.”

“I am incredibly grateful that I had the privilege and opportunity to have a tutor and to afford practice test programs,” John Owen Lowe wrote on Twitter. “Still proud of this achievement. Happy for everybody out there who earned their accomplishments…and really sad for those who were never allowed the opportunity.”

Huffman and Loughlin were both indicted and arrested as part of a massive federal probe earlier in the week. Since then, public scrutiny has been heavy and both have faced criticism from all sides. This includes a $500 billion class action suit that was just filed on Wednesday.

Loughlin and her children have especially taken the brunt of the fallout. The former Full House star was fired from her ongoing Hallmark projects and removed from any guest appearances in the final season of Fuller House on Netflix.

Her daughter Olivia Jade, has faced similar trouble. The YouTube and Instagram star has lost sponsorship deals with brands like Sephora beauty products and was forced to close comments after a flood of negative feedback. It has also been reported that she and her sister will not be returning to USC. The pair were under threat of expulsion while the college investigated the scandal.