What's Come Out About Lori Loughlin's Daughter Olivia Jade
Olivia Jade Giannulli is the youngest daughter of Full House star Lori Loughlin and Mossimo clothing company founder Mossimo Giannulli. A beauty and lifestyle influencer, she has grown a sizable brand and social media presence under the name Olivia Jade, boasting nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers and 1.4 million Instagram followers to date. Along with beauty and fashion, Olivia Jade is a huge fan of higher learning. (We're kidding.)
"I HATE SCHOOL OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD," she tweeted back in 2017, while still in high school. Olivia Jade also wrote in a since-deleted tweet (via Fox 8 Cleveland): "It's so hard to try in school when you don't care about anything you're learning." Miraculously, despite her loathsome view on learning, Olivia Jade was accepted into the University of Southern California and enrolled as a freshman in the fall of 2018.
The miracle, as we all later learned, was due to her parents' alleged involvement in a massive nationwide college admissions scheme that reportedly benefited Olivia Jade and her older sister, Isabella Rose. Just like that, the YouTube starlet's career took a massive hit. So, smash that like button and hit subscribe as we find out what's come out about Lori Loughlin's daughter, Olivia Jade.
Olivia Jade's parents allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes
According to ABC News, in an investigation called "Operation Varsity Blues," Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli were among those "charged in the largest college cheating scam ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice." The March 2019 scandal entangled nearly 50 people, including actress Felicity Huffman and several high-powered executives and CEOs, who "allegedly paid bribes of up to $6.5 million" to get their children into elite colleges across the country. According to court documents, Loughlin and Giannulli reportedly agreed to "pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC."
"This case is about the widening corruption of elite college admissions through the steady application of wealth combined with fraud," said Andrew Lelling, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts (via ABC News). "There can be no separate college admissions system for the wealthy and, I'll add, there will not be a separate criminal justice system either."
She was on a USC official's yacht when the news broke
TMZ reports that while her mother was traveling to surrender to the authorities, Olivia Jade Giannulli was on a luxury yacht owned by Chairman of USC's Board of Trustees and billionaire Rick Caruso. His daughter, Gianna, invited Olivia Jade and a group of friends to spend their spring break on the yacht sailing to the Bahamas. The news of the college admissions scandal forced them to cut the trip short.
In a statement to TMZ, Caruso explained that "the young woman decided it would be in her best interests to return home" once they "became aware of the investigation." The Los Angeles Times reports that the yacht, named Invictus, is 216-feet long and has nine rooms. Caruso called the charges "disturbing" and referred to USC as a victim in his official statement released by the USC press room. He continued, "There is no option other than zero tolerance for this type of behavior. As a result, USC has fired the alleged wrongdoers."
In her last posted YouTube video before the allegations came to light, Olivia Jade modeled an animal print sarong she planned to wear during the trip.
What else did Olivia Jade's parents allegedly do?
To have their eldest daughter, Isabella Giannulli, recruited as a crew coxswain, prosecutors alleged that Olivia Jade's parents paid USC Senior Women's Associate Athletic Director Donna Heinel, even though Isabella "did not row competitively or otherwise participate in crew" (via Page Six). The scheme apparently worked, so this well-connected mom and dad allegedly opted to try the same tactic with younger daughter Olivia Giannulli.
Olivia Jade reportedly posed for an "action picture" on a rowing machine, but a high school guidance counselor supposedly noticed and became "concerned that [the sisters'] applications may have contained misleading information." Heinel allegedly told William Singer, the architect of the scheme, to advise Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli to claim their daughters were "walk-on candidates" and to not engage with the counselor. The girls' parents and Heinel were also reportedly caught on tape discussing the transaction.
Court documents also revealed an email from Loughlin, claiming that Olivia was "confused" over how to submit her college applications, which Page Six reported were eventually completed "on [Olivia's] behalf" by "an employee" of Singer.
Olivia Jade claimed her parents made her attend college
"YouTube will always be my #1 passion. I promise I'd way rather be filming 24/7 than sitting in 6 hours of classes straight but an education is also super important to me so thank u for ur patience and letting me figure out time management," Olivia Jade Giannulli tweeted on Feb. 6, 2019. This message would be a sign of things to come.
On March 8, 2019, days before the scandal broke, Olivia Jade admitted on the Zach Sang Show that she was only in college because "my parents really wanted me to go." She did express gratitude for mom Lori Loughlin and dad Mossimo Giannulli for encouraging her to enroll in college — but not for the reasons one might think. "It's cool to create [YouTube] content from a whole different side of things," Olivia Jade said. "It's the coolest thing to get DMs from girls who are like, I'm applying to college now! What did you do?”
Lori Loughlin's daughter quickly commercialized her college experience
Olivia Jade Giannulli may not have wanted to attend an institution of higher learning, but being a college student turned out to be a boon for her brand. In September 2018, she uploaded a college dorm tour video filled with Amazon products, which she again plugged in the Teen Vogue profile on her dorm decor. "I was also able to use my Prime Student membership and received all the items in two-days with free shipping," she said. "So the best part was that it was already waiting at my dorm for me when I got there."
The social media influencer also posted a since-deleted Instagram photo of her tricked-out dorm "a few weeks" after she moved in. "Officially a college student!" she captioned the pic (via AOL). "I got everything I needed from Amazon with @primestudent and had it all shipped to me in just two-days. #ad #primestudent #allonamazon."
Fun fact: In her dorm tour video, Olivia Jade insisted no one sponsored her, but she also said Amazon "is coming to shoot some of my room because they hooked me up with basically everything in my dorm and were super sweet." Okay, then.
She turned her 'brand' into being a college student
It's unclear how much typical college stuff Olivia Jade Giannulli participated in, but school was certainly in session for her brand. "For back-to-school season, I've been using a doctor-directed, at-home invisible aligner treatment with @SmileDirectClub," she wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post (via Dead State). "I'm so happy with my results so far! Having a straighter smile definitely makes me feel more confident. Purchase your own at-home impression kit with my 50% off promo code OLIVIASMILES." (Who knew teeth had a "season," right?) December 2019 was apparently a great month for the social media starlet, because in the span of one week, she announced the Olivia Jade X Princess Polly collection and her Olivia Jade X Sephora Collection palette.
At over 3 million views, one of her most popular videos starred Olivia Jade and fellow YouTube personality David Dobrik teaching slang terms to her Lori Loughlin and her Full House co-star and longtime pal, John Stamos. "Can I just say how proud I am of you?" Stamos said before the lesson began. "You're such a good girl, you have good values, and you project good morals."
Fans of Lori Loughlin's daughter called her out
Before classes even started at USC, Olivia Jade Giannulli let her YouTube audience know that Fiji, New York, and traveling for "work" were her top priorities. "I don't know how much of school I'm gonna attend," she said in a since-deleted YouTube video (via the New York Daily News). "But I'm gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying ... I don't really care about school, as you guys all know."
Some of Olivia Jade's subscribers called her out immediately for being "privileged" and "spoiled" (via Yahoo! Lifestyle). One commenter said Olivia Jade's take on college was "honestly insulting" when "you're probably going to a good school that others would literally kill" to attend. Two days later, Lori Loughlin's daughter responded with an apology video titled "im sorry." In the clip, she said: "I said something super ignorant and stupid, basically, and it totally came across that I'm not grateful for college. I'm going to a really nice school, and it just kind of made it sound like I don't care ... I'm just really disappointed in myself." Olivia Jade went on to say that "people obviously like to attack me because I've grown up a different life," and she felt like she was "walking on eggshells because I'm freaking out about saying something wrong."
Olivia Jade's mom was her inspiration
Olivia Jade Giannulli has said that mom Lori Loughlin inspired her interest in makeup and beauty products. Attending the People Ones To Watch Party in 2017, Olivia Jade said, "I think ever since I was young, my mom had her makeup professionally done for events so I would always watch makeup artists kind of sculpt her face a little bit." Her makeup obsession eventually found its way to social media, where Olivia Jade Beauty began. "I started getting older, I found YouTube, I started looking at makeup tutorials, and the rest is history," Olivia Jade explained. "But my page isn't just beauty; it's also lifestyle ... I'm just trying to be a relatable teenager."
And if you want to know Loughlin's ultimate beauty tip, her youngest daughter has you covered. "Less is more. She always tells me 'Oh you don't need foundation," Olivia Jade said. "'Let your skin breathe.'" Her famous mom is also reportedly "big on sunscreen."
Lori Loughlin's daughter lost her Sephora partnership deal
On the same day The Hallmark Channel cut ties with her mother, Lori Loughlin, in March 2019, Olivia Jade Giannulli lost her partnership with the beauty retailer Sephora. "After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately," the company told NBC News.
The beauty influencer had announced the partnership on her YouTube channel on Dec. 11, 2018, calling it "a dream come true." In the announcement video, Olivia Jade was emotional and visibly shaking while showing her viewers the product for the first time. "I'm just so emotional, and like, so happy," she said. As she read her name on the box, Olivia Jade added, "I have chills all over my f**king arms."
The Olivia Jade x Sephora Collection Bronze & Illuminate Palette is no longer available on Sephora's website, and TMZ reported that the social media star's page with clothing brand Princess Polly is also no longer active, at the time of this writing.
Did Olivia Jade drop out?
In March 2019, sources told TMZ that Olivia Jade Giannulli and her sister, Isabella, "will not be returning" to USC over fears that they would be "viciously bullied" following the college admissions scheme. The insiders also alleged that Olivia and Isabella "had their sights set on Arizona State University University," because they were more interested in partying than receiving an education.
The tab went on to claim that Olivia was "a mess" and felt "like it's the end of the world" as a result of the scandal, and that she and her sister would "lay low" for the time being. This decision reportedly came with the "full support of their parents."
Lori Loughlin's would have possibly found themselves dismissed from the university anyway. Although NBC News reported that Olivia and Isabella were "still enrolled at USC" at the time, the university also said "a case-by-case review will be conducted for students who are already enrolled" and connected with the scheme. "We will make informed, appropriate decisions once those reviews have been completed," a USC spokesman told the outlet. "Some of these individuals may have been minors at the time of their application process." After the school placed holds on the sisters' accounts that April, it was reported by USA Today in October 2019 that Olivia and Isabella were no longer enrolled at USC.
A TV game show was allegedly rigged in her favor
The Daily Mail reports that a 2016 episode of Tap That Awesome App was allegedly "rigged" to let Olivia Jade Giannulli win. According to the report, fellow YouTube influencer Marissa Rachel won the game in front of a live audience, but "studio execs" supposedly "stepped in and ordered producers to re-shoot the final few questions."
A source close to the production spilled how it all went down. "They competed in the first round and Marissa Rachel won," the source claimed. "She answered the most questions right and was declared the winner in front of a live studio audience of about 25 people as well as dozens of other crew members. The host announced her as the winner and everyone applauded and cheered. But right after Marissa was declared the winner, two studio executives suddenly came on set and stopped the shoot and said, 'we have to film it again with Olivia as the winner.' Everyone was confused. Marissa Rachel said: 'But I already won.'" The only explanation given by the execs was a vague "mistake with the scoring" that supposedly meant "[Olivia Jade] was the genuine winner."
For her part, Marissa Rachel still isn't happy about what transpired. "I have nothing against Olivia, I've met her on several occasions and she's perfectly nice. But what happened just didn't seem right to me," Rachel told the outlet. "I definitely won by a significant amount."
Olivia Jade's dad 'faked his way' through college
Days before her parents were arrested for their alleged part in the college admissions cheating scam, Olivia Jade Giannulli appeared on the Zach Sang Show and said her father, Mossimo Giannulli, "faked his way" through college. "He, like, built his whole entire brand and he wasn't actually, like, ever — I don't know if I'm supposed to say this (Sorry, dad.) — but, he wasn't ever, like, enrolled in college," she explained. "But he, like, faked his way through it, and then he started his whole business with tuition money that his parents thought was going to college."
Comic Tom Arnold shared a story about Olivia Jade's parents on Twitter which, if true, sounds a bit like hypocrisy: "Couple wks (sic) ago I got into it with for 10th time with #CollegeCheatingScandal DAD at big party cause his sloppy a** was rambling on again about Trump & people carrying their own weight & his own conservative politics being 'right of Attila the Hun.' He embarrassed Scandal Mom again."
An anonymous source confirmed to Page Six that this alleged incident happened, telling the tab, "Mossimo was talking about how he agrees with Trump, and that people need to carry their own weight. He was saying there's a lot of 'takers' out there and entitled people." We're pretty sure that whole "entitled" argument goes out the window, when you pay $500,000 in bribes for your child to attend college, no?
She might lose her patents due to bad punctuation
Olivia Jade Giannulli's beauty brand might be losing a little more of its influence. The Blast reported in May 2019 that patent applications submitted by the scandal-plagued YouTuber for "Olivia Jade Beauty" and "Olivia Jade" were sent back to her by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office "because the language regarding Giannulli's 'make up kits' with 'moisturizer' and 'concealer' is said to be too broad." The sticking point seemed to be that Olivia Jade didn't understand punctuation. "Proper punctuation in identifications is necessary to delineate explicitly each product or service within a list and to avoid ambiguity," USPTO officials said. "Commas, semicolons, and apostrophes are the only punctuation that should be used."
The Blast claimed the controversial YouTube star would get another chance to file the patents according to the office's guidelines, but noted that "this is the second time she's been warned." If the documentation isn't corrected "in a timely manner," The Blast said "the entire application [will] be thrown out."
Lori Loughlin's daughter Olivia Jade returned to YouTube
Almost nine months after her parents, actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were indicted on charges related to the college admissions scandal, Olivia Jade Giannulli returned to YouTube with two-minute video simply titled, "hi again," in December 2019.
In the video, Olivia Jade stated that she'd been gone from the platform "for a really long time," and had debated for "seven or eight months" whether or not she should come back since she's "legally not allowed to speak on anything" going with her parents' ongoing case. "There's no point in me just talking for 10 minutes to the camera about how I wish I could say something when I really can't, so I'm going to leave it at that," Olivia Jade explained, adding that she wanted to move on with her life and "start taking smaller steps in the right direction" following the massive scandal.
As expected, the social media reactions were mixed. "You should have stayed gone," one Twitter user replied. Another user wrote, "You've become an icon for corruption and elitism. Hopefully the public disdain for you, will lead to more purposeful content on your part." However, Olivia Jade still had a number of fans who fully supported her. "I love u. ur strong," one user wrote. "Despite what all happened, as long as you've learned and grown from it that's all that matters. we're here for you and i'm happy ur back."