Dr. Dre Says His Daughter Got Into USC "All on Her Own" Despite $70 Million Donation
We're here today to announce charges in the largest college admission scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice. We've charged 50 people nationwide, with participating in conspiracy that involved first cheating on college entrance exams, being the SAT and the ACT. And second, securing admission to elite colleges by bribing coaches at those schools to accept certain students under false pretenses. In return for bribes, these coaches agreed to pretend that certain applicants were recruited competitive athletes. When in fact, the applicants were not, as the coaches knew. The student's athletic credentials had been fabricated. Overall today we have charged three people who organized these scams, two SAT or ACT exam administrators, one exam proctor, one college administrator Nine coaches at elite schools and 33 parents who paid enormous sums to guarantee their children's admission to certain schools through the use of bribes and fake academic and athletic credentials. A central defendant and scheme William Singer, Will plead guilty today to charges of racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice. Singer allegedly ran a college counseling service and something called the Key World Wide Foundation, between roughly 2011 and 2018. Wealthy parents paid Singer about $25 million in total.
Amidst the college admissions scandal — in which celebrities, CEOs, and other high-profile individuals paid their children's way into prestigious universities across the country — Dr. Dre is celebrating the fact that his daughter, Truly Young, was accepted into the University of Southern California "all on her own."
Over the weekend, the rapper joked that he wouldn't face "jail time" for his daughter's success in a now-deleted Instagram post of himself and Truly holding her certificate of admission and a campus pamphlet.
However, soon after shading the celebrity parents who allegedly paid bribes to guarantee their child's spot at the same college, media outlets soon pointed out that Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Beats Electronics, made a hefty $70 million donation to the school six years ago to establish the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business Innovation.
While it's perfectly legal for parents to boost their child's chances of acceptance with large donations, Dre's post did call into question how much influence his contribution to the college had on the admissions committee. According to the Los Angeles Times, strong GPAs and high SAT scores "hold a lot of weight," but so do multi-million dollar donations, thanks to a decline in state funding and federal research aid.
Meanwhile, celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin crossed the line when their funds were funneled to an exam administrator and collegiate athletic coach, respectively.
Huffman allegedly paid $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme, while Loughlin "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."