Olivia Jade, Lori Loughlin’s daughter snared in scandal, is rising social media star
The scheme, which allegedly began in 2011, centered on the owner of a for-profit Newport Beach college admissions company that wealthy parents are accused of paying to help their children cheat on college entrance exams and to falsify athletic recor
Among those ensnared in an elaborate scheme aimed at getting students into elite colleges are the daughters of “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin and Mossimo clothing designer Mossimo Giannulli.
The couple’s youngest daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, is a rising social media influencer whose digital presence boasts makeup tutorials, fashion week appearances and video blogging around USC, where she is a student.
She is likely the most prominent offspring whose academic career has been called into question after the Department of Justice revealed the college admissions fraud scheme on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old has nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers, 1.3 million Instagram followers and 182,000 Twitter followers. Her older sister, Isabella Rose, 20, keeps more private social media accounts.
Several of her posts indicate that she’s a paid partner for brands such as TRESemmé, Amazon Fashion, Clinique, Lulus and Sephora, where she fronts a cosmetics collection. Loughlin makes several appearances in her posts and videos, and is even seen learning slang in a few videos on Jade’s YouTube channel.
The Amazon partnership is particularly interesting because it involved outfitting her college dorm room.
Olivia Jade Giannulli has made no secret that her priorities are her YouTube channel and business ventures, facing backlash last year for saying that she was interested in attending college only for the parties.
The USC freshman later backtracked, tweeting just last month that “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. Ily bbs”
She’s also said that she pursued higher education because her parents, neither of whom attended college, wanted her to go.
Loughlin, who stars on Netflix’s “Fuller House” (the streaming platform’s revival of the sitcom “Full House”), is among the 50 people charged in the federal investigation, which has been dubbed Operation Varsity Blues.
Though the investigation has led to the arrest and subsequent guilty plea Tuesday of mastermind William Rick Singer, Loughlin and fellow actress Felicity Huffman have become the boldface names associated with the story, given their wealth and high profile. They are both being charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. (The fates of their upcoming projects remain unclear.)
According to court records, Loughlin and Giannulli “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team” even though they did not participate in crew.
Loughlin has not been arrested, but is being sought by authorities, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. Law enforcement sources told The Times she is flying to Los Angeles to surrender.
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