operation varsity blues

William H. Macy Bought the Grad Balloons Himself

William H. Macy. Photo: GEDU/Terma / BACKGRID

Esteemed character actor William H. Macy has stepped out with balloons. This would not be news except for the crucial fact that Macy’s wife, Felicity Huffman, recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection to the college admissions scandal and the balloons he is carrying happen to be graduation balloons. His 18-year-old daughter Sofia Grace is graduating from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts soon. Macy himself wasn’t named in the scandal, though the so-called Operation Varsity Blues did uncover that Huffman paid to boost her daughter’s SAT scores without her knowledge. But anyway, back to the photo: There’s just so much to ponder here. There’s Macy’s downward gaze, the lighthearted exclamation points of the balloons, what appears to be the sign of a Ralph’s in the background. It’s a tableau of Americana, latticed with ambition and despair. The Coen brothers wish they had staged this.

William H. Macy Bought the Grad Balloons Himself