The Brief: Memes are poking fun at parents who paid bribes to get their children into elite universities including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.
DEEP DIVE
In March 2019, Lori Loughlin and Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman were among affluent figures who were found to have paid large sums in bribes so their children could attend prestigious universities. Users online quickly made memes mocking the outlandish situation, with many referencing Loughlin’s role as Aunt Becky in the beloved sitcom Full House and the revival Fuller House. Tweets also mentioned Olivia Jade, Loughlin’s oldest daughter, who is a popular lifestyle YouTuber and influencer.
COLLEGE CHEATING SCANDAL MEMES
Full House Tweets:
When you gotta break aunt Becky out of jail. pic.twitter.com/ouwPjstDnV
— Travon Free (@Travon) March 12, 2019
Michelle, the baby of the Tanner family on Full House, is on her way to break Aunt Becky out, no matter the cost.
Aunt Becky's spin-off show is gonna be so good pic.twitter.com/TRr7RrWHIm
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) March 12, 2019
Ah, Aunt Becky, how the tables have turned. pic.twitter.com/kohi5bpp5w
— Michael Anthony Adams (@MichaelAdams317) March 12, 2019
Olivia Jade Tweets:
Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, paid $500,000 for her two daughters to be admitted to the University of Southern California as recruits to the crew team. Twitter took no time before finding a past video Olivia Jade posted to YouTube, in which she admitted she cared more about college tailgates and partying than attending classes. The memes naturally followed.
olivia jade clearing out her dorm room at usc pic.twitter.com/FLC8ZgH7kw
— rosie (@bethecowboys) March 12, 2019
Olivia Jade walking into class for the first time in 5 months at USC pic.twitter.com/x8wsYPQeZY
— sam (@itsf5ordie) March 12, 2019
so happy to see olivia jade excelling on the usc rowing team ! pic.twitter.com/q5b1rb3PHF
— molly (@mollymcgowan20) March 12, 2019
Desperate Housewives/Felicity Huffman Tweets:
ADMISSIONS OFFICE: ur child was not accepted to our college
FELICITY HUFFMAN: then i will have to do a crime
ADMISSIONS OFFICE: u can just donate some money & we'll let em in
FELICITY HUFFMAN: a crime i shall do
ADMISSIONS OFFICE: just make a donation
FELICITY HUFFMAN: crime time— Bob Vulfov (@bobvulfov) March 12, 2019
— out of context desperate housewives (@DHnocontext) March 12, 2019
Many people also pointed out that Huffman’s 2016 tweet, asking for advice ahead of the new school year, did not age well in retrospect.
— Brenden Malace (@BMalace) March 12, 2019
Tweets about privilege:
wow, turns out that money was the real Affirmative Action all along!
— gamer wife (@bijanstephen) March 12, 2019
*Privileged students right now getting messages to report to the Deans office #CollegeCheatingScandal pic.twitter.com/x7W6ixwNu3
— Queena (@darealqueenbee) March 13, 2019
On a more serious note, Twitter users like Clint Smith III noted that the college admission scam is representative of how wealth and race factor into an individual’s success, and that low-income and black and brown students face higher obstacles when applying to these prestigious schools.
Thinking about all the black, brown, & low-income students who arrive at college & who are made to feel as if they don't deserve to be there, while so many wealthy students have their parents essentially buy their way into these schools & rarely experience the same skepticism.
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) March 12, 2019
Hopefully in the future, more rich people will get held accountable for manipulating the education system. For now, at least increased dialogue about the matter has been opened, and we can be thankful that we can milk the Aunt-Becky-In-Prison memes as long as it can last us.
FBI: we're looking for felicity huffman pic.twitter.com/ip7qKikyxr
— gabe bergado (@gabebergado) March 12, 2019