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Massachusetts family sues Netflix over depiction in ‘Varsity Blues’ documentary

John Wilson was exonerated from the core charges against him, but claims Netflix defamed him and his son in a 2021 film.

John Wilson and his wife arriving at federal court in Boston in 2021. Josh Reynolds/AP

March 14, 2024

2 minutes to read

A Massachusetts man and his son, who were depicted in a Netflix documentary about the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, are suing the streaming service. They allege the company defamed them by unfairly lumping them in with the true criminals that participated in the scandal.

John Wilson, a private equity investor, successfully appealed bribery and fraud convictions connected to the scandal last year. Wilson, as the only defendant from Massachusetts, claims he was the “hook” prosecutors needed to bring the trials from California to Boston. Although he has been exonerated, Wilson and his family are seeking “monetary damages and other legal redress for the malicious and reckless destruction of their reputations” by Netflix, the film’s producers, and its director.

In a complaint filed in Barnstable Superior Court by Wilson and his son, Johnny, those who made the film are accused of consciously disregarding evidence given to them so that they could depict “false narratives” about the Wilsons. The film in question is “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal.”

Representations from Netflix did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

Wilson laid out his version of events in an opinion piece for The Boston Globe last year. The charges stemmed from donations he made to the University of Southern California, Harvard, and Stanford for his three children, he wrote. Those donations were meant to “boost” the prospects of their admission, but all three of his children were “qualified academically and athletically on their own merits,” he wrote.

According to Wilson, his donations went to college foundations and IRS-approved charities, not to any individual people. He passed multiple polygraph tests administered by former FBI and CIA officials, but prosecutors charged him anyway.

While the “core” convictions were overturned, Wilson was convicted of a tax violation for deducting his donations to USC, he wrote.

Before the film premiered in March 2021, Wilson and his family warned Netflix against grouping them in with the other people involved in the scandal who had pleaded guilty. They sent a letter to the company with more than 450 pages, according to the complaint. It included evidence of the childrens’ bona fides, the reports from the polygraph testing, and other documents.

The film centers on “nefarious actions” perpetrated by the guilty parties such as test cheating, staging and editing fake photos, and making bribe payments. The Wilsons were never even alleged to have been involved in actions like these, they wrote in the complaint.

Viewers were told at the end of the film that Wilson had pleaded not guilty, but he believes that it should have been updated in the years since to reflect the fact that he was exonerated of the core charges.

The filmmakers “vilified” the Wilsons through “pernicious filmmaking techniques,” leading viewers to conclude that the allegations against them were the same as those against the “unrelated bad characters” portrayed in the film, according to the complaint.