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Olivia Jade Giannulli broke her silence regarding her parents’ involvement in the college admissions scandal Tuesday during her first media appearance on “Red Table Talk.”
The influencer daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli brought herself to the red table and opened up for the first time about the infamous college admissions scandal that landed her parents behind bars. Loughlin, 56, and Giannulli, 57, are currently carrying out overlapping prison terms.
In a prerecorded interview, the 21-year-old spoke to host Jada Pinkett Smith about her parents serving prison time, not being angry at them and the backlash she faced online because of her privilege.
“It’s been hard, I think, for anybody,” the former University of Southern California student admitted. “No matter what the situation is, you don’t want to see your parents go to prison. But I think it’s necessary for us to move on and move forward.”
LORI LOUGHLIN BEGINS HER 2-MONTH PRISON SENTENCE FOR ROLE IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL
Loughlin started serving a two-month term behind bars in August after she and her fashion designer husband pleaded guilty to charges stemming from $ 500,000 payments to scam mastermind William “Rick” Singer to get their daughters, Olivia and Isabella, recruited onto the crew team at USC. The two had never participated in the sport. Giannulli is serving a five-month prison sentence.
Olivia Jade Giannulli, left, said she hasn’t spoken to either of her parents since they surrendered for their respective prison sentences. (AP file)
As part of their plea deal, Loughlin has paid the $ 150,000 fine she was ordered to hand over, while Giannulli has also made his account square with the courts, paying off his $ 250,000 debt as well.
Olivia described: “I think that what hasn’t been super public is that there is no justifying or excusing what happened because what happened was wrong. And I think every single person in my family can be like, ‘That was messed up. That was a big mistake.’ But I think what’s so important to me is to learn from the mistake, not to now be shamed and punished and never given a second chance because I’m 21. I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show I’ve grown.”
The beauty influencer revealed she hasn’t spoken to either one of her parents since they started their sentences.
“It’s definitely been really hard not being able to talk to [my mom] but I know she’s strong and I know it’s a good reflection period. I’m trying to look at the positives and I know that it’s a positive that she’s in there right now,” explained Olivia. “She gets to really rethink everything that happened [and] kind of figure out when she comes out what she wants to do with what she’s learned through all of this.”
When the news of the bribery scandal broke in March 2019, Olivia said she felt “embarrassed” and “ashamed.”
MOSSIMO GIANNULLI REPORTS TO PRISON TO BEGIN 5-MONTH SENTENCE IN THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL
She was also “confused” about what people were saying about her fake application to the California university.
“I remember writing on my application about my YouTube channel and VidCon [a tech conference]. There were two very different things,” she said.
“I’m not trying to victimize myself. I don’t want pity. I don’t deserve pity. We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like I recognize I messed up. And for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it. I never got to say I’m really sorry that this happened or I really own that this was a big mess-up on everybody’s part. But I think everybody feels that way in my family right now,” Olivia continued.
During the candid conversation, she addressed her white privilege and why so many people of color were outraged by her family’s actions.
“I understand that just based on my skin color I already had my foot in the door and I was already ahead of everybody else. Right. I think that 100%. I can recognize that going forward,” she shared.
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Olivia claimed that her parents’ actions just came from a place of love. She said she confronted them but “they didn’t really have much to say except like, ‘I’m so sorry. I really messed up trying to give the best to you and your sister…’ I’ve seen them day in and day out and how they’ve received all of this. And I know that they’ve struggled.”
She added: “I think that there was a college counselor involved who seemed legitimate and ended up not being legitimate. And in that community, it was not out of the ordinary [to make donations]. And it’s embarrassing to say that I didn’t know.”
Olivia Jade Giannulli broke her silence about her parents going to prison for their involvement in the college admissions scandal. (Phillip Faraone/WireImage)
The young Internet personality explained how she now wants to use her privilege, influence, and blessings to help kids who aren’t as fortunate as she and her sister have been.
“I just want to make it very clear I’m very aware there are big problems going on in the world that are outside my bubble,” she reasoned. “But how much better of a person would you be if you used your blessings to help somebody else?”
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“Red Table Talk” is available to stream on Facebook Watch.
Fox News’ Julius Young contributed to this report.
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