Parents who were accused of conspiring to commit fraud and money laundering in the college admissions scandal are now suing Netflix for defamation after the streaming platform released a new documentary detailing the incident.
John B. Wilson, who is a Massachusetts financier, along with his wife, Leslie Wilson, and their son filed a lawsuit against Netflix on Tuesday, claiming that the documentary “Operation Varsity Blues” has destroyed their reputations, according to NBC News.
The Wilsons were among 16 parents who were arrested in March 2019 for allegedly bribing admissions counselors to get their children accepted to Ivy League schools. John Wilson pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, the outlet reported.
The lawsuit places blame on William “Rick” Singer as the driving force behind the scandal and claims that the Wilsons warned Netflix not to group them with parents who pleaded guilty in the case prior to the documentary’s release.
“No individual, including a defendant awaiting trial in a criminal case, is required to sit by and permit the unlawful and unfair destruction of their reputation by a global media outlet,” the lawsuit states.
It also alleges that Netflix is guilty of ignoring facts of the case and maintained that John Wilson believed the donations he made to Singer were “legitimate.”
“Among other things, the Wilsons made clear to Defendants that Mr. Wilson’s son was a real and talented water polo player who was part of the United States Olympic development program, that his daughters had 99th percentile test scores based on tests that they themselves took, and other publicly available exculpatory information, all of which the Wilsons provided to Defendants,” it says, according to NBC News.
The Wilson family is calling for Netflix to issue a public apology and to pay them for damages, NBC News reported.