Still in shock. Kyle Richards was asked about her friend Lori Loughlin’s alleged involvement in a nationwide college admissions scam and appeared visibly perplexed.
Richards, 50, appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Tuesday, March 12, and took a call from a fan who wondered if anyone in her 18-year-old daughter Sophia Umansky’s “circle has ever had an issue like” the scheme.
“We know a lot of people in that circle and it was really shocking today. Sophia knows all those girls,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star said. “They’re really great people and you kinda just go, ‘I’m really so confused by all of this.’ And, yeah. Everyone’s talking about it today, you know, in our world and our circle.”
The reality television personality continued: “Until today, [I] had never heard this ever existed. Maybe I’m naive. I didn’t even know that existed.”
Loughlin, 54, and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC,” per to court documents obtained by ABC News. The duo’s daughters, Bella, 20, and Olivia, 19, both attend the University of Southern California.
Us Weekly confirmed that a warrant for the Full House alum’s arrest was issued earlier on Tuesday, but she was not home at the time. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told Us that Loughlin was taken into custody on Wednesday, March 13. Giannulli, 55, was arrested the day prior and was later released on $1 million bond.
Actress Felicity Huffman was another celebrity arrested in connection with the educational scheme, which involved nearly 50 people. The Desperate Housewives alum, 56, was reportedly met at her home on Tuesday morning by several armed FBI agents and held on $250,000 bond. Her husband, William H. Macy, was spotted arriving at the Los Angeles courthouse before she was released several hours later.
The Cake actress allegedly “made a purported charitable contribution of $15,000 … to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scandal on behalf of her eldest daughter,” Sofia, 18. She also supposedly planned to do the same thing for daughter Georgia, 16, but decided “not to do so.”
