Eva Longoria Says Felicity Huffman Defended Her From ‘Desperate Housewives’ Bully
Eva Longoria’s support of Felicity Huffman during the college admissions scandal included a letter obtained by NBC News, detailing her former co-star’s kindness to her on the set of Desperate Housewives.
Longoria described joining the series when she “was very new to the business and industry as a whole,” and Huffman ended up being “the first one to take [her] under her wing.”
“From the first table read of the script, she noticed me sitting alone, scared and unsure of where to go and what to do. Her gentle character and kind heart immediately opened up to me,” Longoria wrote.
The actress went on to reveal how Huffman told her they’d “get through this together” and came to her defense on three specific occasions, first with a bully on set, then when she was the only one of the four main actresses not nominated for a Golden Globe, and finally, to negotiate her contract when she was “the lowest paid actor on the show, by far.”
“There was a time I was being bullied at work by a co-worker. I dreaded the days I had to work with that person because it was pure torture,” she said. “Until one day, Felicity told the bully ‘enough’ and it all stopped. Felicity could feel that I was riddled with anxiety even though I never complained or mentioned the abuse to anyone.”
Longoria revealed that it wasn’t the fact that she wasn’t nominated for a Golden Globe while the others were that bothered her, but that “the press made it a bigger deal than it was between the four of us actors.” Huffman told her “how talented [she] was and how [she] never needed an award to know that.”
Huffman also “protected” her by insisting she and the other actresses renegotiate their contracts together since they were making more than Longoria was. “That did not go over too well with the others.” Longoria wrote. “But Felicity stood up for me, saying it was fair because the success of the show depended on all of us, not one of us. This fight lasted weeks, but Felicity held strong and convinced everything this was the right thing to do.” In the end, it worked and Longoria was “bumped up to favored nations,” which meant they all made the same.
According to the actress, it was her former costar who helped those in the industry see Longoria “as an equal.”
(Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
“I know I would not have survived those 10 years if it wasn’t for the friendship of Felicity,” she said.
Longoria and Huffman starred on ABC’s Desperate Housewives from 2004 to 2012. Huffman is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in the college admissions scandal.
