John Legend Shares Thoughts on College Admissions Scandal: 'The System Has Been Rigged for Wealthy People'

"I think it’s a longer conversation because I think a lot of people look at this rightly as fraudulent and dishonest," Legend explained.

Singer songwriter John Legend receives an honorary doctorate of music
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Image via Getty/Gilbert Carrasquillo

Singer songwriter John Legend receives an honorary doctorate of music

EGOT winner John Legend revealed that he's not surprised by the recent college admission scandal that's implicated Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

The actresses were two of 50 people participating in a college bribery scheme to get their loved ones admitted to elite colleges like Georgetown, Yale, and USC. While the names involved were shocking, the news confirmed for some people how rigged the admissions system is. Legend showed he was one of those people during a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight.

"I think it’s a longer conversation because I think a lot of people look at this rightly as fraudulent and dishonest," Legend explained. "But the bottom line is, the system has been rigged for wealthy people for a long time."

Legend is pretty familiar with higher learning. At the age of 12, he entered high school and graduated four years later as the salutatorian with scholarships to Harvard, Morehouse, and other esteemed universities. Legend eventually graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, but not before impressing his Ivy League colleges with his musical talents. Because of his unique route to academic excellence, John Legend has likely heard or witnessed various stories of nepotism and privilege.

"The admissions system rewards people's parents being wealthy and people's parents having gone to a certain school," Legend continued. "There's a lot of legal ways to do that that still aren't really that fair to a lot of other people."

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