Olivia Jade Breaks Silence On Mother Lori Loughlin's Arrest: 'What Happened Was Wrong'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The daughter of "Full House" star Lori Loughlin and fashion mogul Mossimo Giannulli spoke out for the first time this week about her parents arrest and imprisonment in the college admissions scandal.
The 21-year-old Olivia Jade appeared on Jada Pinkett Smith's show "Red Table Talk" Tuesday to discuss the scandal which wreaked havoc on her family.
"What happened was wrong," Jade said bluntly. "And I think every single person in my family can be like, 'that was messed up, that was a big mistake.'"
The 56-year-old Loughlin and the 57-year-old Giannulli plead guilty back in May to paying $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, admitted to USC as members of the crew team even though neither had ever rowed crew.
Jade said she wasn't aware of her parents' crimes when they were happening.
"It's embarrassing to say that I didn't know."
In late October, Loughlin began serving her two-month federal prison sentence at a Northern California prison. Giannulli began serving his five-month sentence in mid-November at a federal prison in Lompoc.
Jade also revealed Tuesday she hasn't spoken to either of them since they reported to prison.
Jade, who had built a large social media presence prior to the case, said she was with friends on spring break when the news broke that her parents had been charged.
"I remember freezing and feeling so ashamed, I went home and hid myself for maybe three or four months," she said.
She never returned to USC.
"I shouldn't have been there in the first place clearly, so there was no point in me trying to go back," she said.
She told Pinkett Smith that she's not looking for pity, just a fresh start.
"I'm not trying to victimize myself, I don't want pity, I don't deserve pity," Jade said. "We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, 'I recognize I messed up.'"
Jade also addressed a video she had posted to her YouTube channel back in August of 2018, prior to attending USC, in which she said she "doesn't really care about school."
"The fact that you even could say those things just shows how fortunate you were, that you didn't have to worry about that, that you knew you were going to be OK without it," Jade said. "And that sits with me and makes me cringe and it's embarrassing that I ever said those types of things. And not only said them, but edited it, uploaded it."
In March of 2019, the FBI charged 50 people — including 35 parents and nine coaches — in a massive bribery scheme dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues" in which wealthy families paid millions to Newport Beach businessman Rick Singer to help their children cheat on standardized tests and bribe test administrators and college coaches to help get their kids into top universities like UCLA, USC, Yale, Stanford and Georgetown.
So far, at least 30 parents, including "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman — who served a 14-day sentence last October — have pleaded or agreed to plead guilty in the scandal.
