Award-winning American Hollywood couple William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman known for their roles in hit TV series Shameless and Desperate Housewives are spending their summer vacation in Kenya.
Macy is popular for his character Frank Gallagher on Shameless (2011-2021) while his wife shot to fame for her role as Lynette Scavo in comedy-drama Desperate Housewives (2004–2012)
The celebrity couple jetted into the country on June 23, 2022, and has been spending quality time in Laikipia county.
Macy revealed that his wife Huffman has been to Kenya several times and that she was the one who influenced him to visit the county this year.
“The first time I ever spoke to Felicity Huffman, she told me about a trip she had taken with her mom, sister and brother to Kenya. They rode horses across the Maasai Mara on safari for ten days and she told me amazing stories about lions and crocodiles and elephants.
“Last year, my wife took our daughters, along with her brother and a couple nephews, on the same trip. The day they returned we sat on our back porch in LA as they fought their way through the fog of jet lag and told amazing stories of lions and crocodiles and elephants.
“Without fanfare, Flicka picked up her phone and called the safari company (Off Beat Riding Safaris) and made reservations for this summer, and she looked at me and said, “You’re coming, Billy”. My daughters looked at me and said, “You’re coming, Dad”.
“Now I’m not a horse guy, and I have a pretty serious allergy to horses – at least that’s been my story and I’ve stuck by it, but my whole family was united that I was going on safari. So, this past May I started taking riding lessons. I guess I had twenty or twenty-five lessons in total. Some of them were fifty minutes but most were half an hour.
“And then June 23rd came around and I found myself in Kenya on a horse, and there were elephants beside me,” he wrote on Instagram.
The Shameless star further revealed that they have been spending time between Laikipia and Muthaiga Club in Nairobi since landing in Kenya.
“Our party consisted of Felicity, her brother Moore, our daughters Sophia and Georgia, and our good friends Ripley, Ellen and Kim. We all flew to Nairobi at different times and we met at the Muthaiga Club. When Karen Blixen, the heroine in OUT OF AFRICA, arrives in Nairobi she says, “Take me to the Muthaiga club”. It was founded in 1913 and it’s got Hemingway and Waugh all over it. You have to wear a jacket to dinner. It’s famous. It’s fabulous,” he wrote.
Hollywood couple caught up in ‘Varsity Blues’ scandal
William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman have been flying under the radar ever since they were caught up in the college admissions scandal of 2019.
Huffman was one of the dozens of Hollywood celebrity defendants charged in the scandal, dubbed “Varsity Blues” by federal officials.
The award-winning actress was among the celebs charged in the sting operation orchestrated by the Justice Department after the college admissions scandal made headlines in 2019.
Nearly 50 individuals were indicted for bribing university administrators or committing other forms of fraud to get their children into prestigious universities including Yale and Harvard universities.
Huffman pleaded guilty to mail fraud and honest services fraud charges in May 2019, charges that came from paying an SAT proctor to alter her daughter’s scores.
The actress was sentenced to 14 days in prison. She also paid a $30,000 (Ksh3.5 million) fine and was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service.
The Golden Globe-winning actress apologized for her role in the scheme ahead of her 14-day imprisonment.
“I am deeply sorry to the students, schools, and universities that are impacted by my actions. I take full responsibility for my actions and as a first step for making amends for my crime. I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate,” she told the court.
The Desperate Housewives actress began her 14-day sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, on October 15.
She was released early under a prison policy that allows inmates to leave the facility if they are set to be released on weekends.
Huffman’s husband, who was named in court documents yet escaped indictment, had to pay a fine of $30,000 and perform 250 hours of community service.
In March 2021, Netflix released the documentary Operation Varsity Blues - the first film to tell the story of the admissions scandal. The title of the documentary comes from the Justice Department’s nickname for the probe.
