Former Staples executive John Wilson and his son, Johnny Wilson, are suing Netflix for defamation over the streamer’s portrayal of the family in their documentary about the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal.
In 2021, John Wilson was convicted on charges related to the admissions scandal, an episode that resulted in the conviction of more than 50 people, including celebrities, on charges of conspiracy, bribery and fraud for cheating to get their children into prestigious universities. But, after a hearing at the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the original decision was overturned and several of Wilson’s convictions were tossed.
Wilson was accused by prosecutors of paying $220,000 to have his son Johnny designated as a water polo recruit at the University of Southern California. Prosecutors also alleged that he spent $1 million to buy his daughters admission to Harvard and Stanford. Attorneys for Wilson claimed their client believed he was making legitimate donations to the universities, asserting that he did not participate in any conspiracies. The lawyers also contended that unlike the children of other parents convicted in the Varsity Blues scandal, Wilson’s son Johnny was in fact an accomplished athlete.
In their lawsuit, the Wilsons allege that Netflix and the producers of the 2021 documentary “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admission Scandal,” consciously defamed the Wilsons by presenting viewers with a deceitful version of their story.
“Netflix willingly chose to group my highly qualified children and me into a scandal involving celebrities who, unlike me, pled guilty and acknowledged their roles in shameful actions like photoshopping images of fake athletes, cheating on tests and making bribe payments to coaches,” Wilson explained in a recent statement. “In the interest of justice and accountability, Netflix must pay for the deliberate and devastating harm that they’ve done to my family.”
The lawsuit, filed on March 4, goes into further detail. According to the Wilsons, Netflix interspersed John Wilson’s words with reenactments of unethical behavior committed by other parents convicted in the Varsity Blues scandal. In the documentary, Wilson’s name and voice are depicted over a scene showing other defendants Photoshopping water polo photos of their children. This kind of editing, which the lawsuit says is deceptive, was done 26 times in the first 24 minutes of the film.
According to the suit, Wilson and his attorneys cautioned Netflix against including him in the documentary, sending the streamer a written warning before the film was released. The Massachusetts resident alleges that Netflix and the documentary’s producers deliberately overlooked the evidence presented to them in the warning, including the claim that Wilson’s son ended up being one of the fastest players on the USC water polo team. The lawsuit also argues Wilson’s quotes were edited in a deceptive manner.
Among the parents implicated in the Varsity Blues scandal were Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Gianulli. The couple was convicted in part for having their daughter, influencer Olivia Jade, pose for a photo on a rowing machine. This photo was included in the Youtube personality’s USC application, to imply she was a competitive high school rower. In addition to the sports fraud, Loughlin and Gianulli were convicted of paying bribes to secure Olivia Jade’s acceptance to USC. Each parent was sentenced to prison, fined, and compelled to complete community service. Desperate Housewives alum Felicity Huffman also served time for the scandal, after spending $15,000 to improve her daughter’s SAT scores.
Attorneys for John Wilson consulted a focus group to measure the impact of Netflix’s documentary on viewers’ perceptions of him. Lawyers say that, because of Netflix’s editing, the majority of focus group participants came away with the belief that the Wilsons cheated on the ACT, that Johnny was a fake athlete with fake photos, and that Wilson bribed USC coaches and administrators.
“While justice has largely been restored in the court of law, exoneration is still needed in the court of public opinion, particularly as the Netflix film continues to falsely smear my family and shamefully misleads viewers to discredit the hard-earned accomplishments and talents of my innocent children,” Wilson said. “We have suffered tremendous harm as Netflix chose sensationalism over accuracy, a deliberate choice which destroyed our reputations and grossly violated the ethics of documentary filmmaking as well as basic decency.”
The Wilson family’s lawsuit is seeking unspecified monetary damages. The Wilsons are also calling for Netflix to withdraw false statements made about them in the documentary, and to publicly apologize.
TMX contributed to this story.
