Lori Loughlin’s Daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli Admits ‘We Messed Up’ in First-Ever Interview About the College Admissions Scandal

Lori Loughlin’s daugther, Olivia Jade Giannulli, has broken her silence on her family’s involvement in the college admissions scandal.

In May, Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty to paying $500,000 to get their daughters, Olivia Jade and her sister Bella, into the University of Southern California. The couple hired college admissions consultant Rick Singer to fake their daughters’ admissions applications to make it look like they were recruits for the crew team.

Loughlin is currently serving a two-month prison sentence, while her husband is serving five months, both on charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.

On Tuesday, Olivia Jade sat down for her first interview since news of the scandal broke last year. The 21-year-old beauty influencer opened up about the experience on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk.

“It’s been hard,” Olivia Jade began on the show. “I think for anybody, no matter what the situation is, you don’t want to see your parents go to prison, but also I think it’s necessary for us to move on and move forward.”

She continued, “I think that this has been a really eye-opening experience for me and situation and although there’s a lot of negative around it and there’s a lot of mistakes and wrongdoings, it’s led me to have a completely different outlook on a lot of situations.”

Olivia Jade went on to say there’s “no justifying or excusing what happened,” adding, “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 is to learn from the mistake not to now be shamed and punished and never given a second chance.”

The 21-year-old also revealed that as a result of Covid restrictions, she hasn’t spoken to either of her parents since they began their prison sentences in October.

“I’m super close with my parents, especially my mom. She’s like my best friend. It’s definitely been hard,” she said. “She’s in there right now. She gets to really rethink everything that’s happened, kind of figure out when she comes out what she wants to do with, what she’s learned through all of this. I think that hopefully will be a blessing in the end.”

Loughlin’s daughter also admitted to living in a “bubble” and and having little awareness of her “privilege” at the time of the scandal. “When all this first happened and it became public, I remember thinking — my thoughts are completely different now —  ‘How are people mad about this?’” she said. “I know that sounds so silly, but in the bubble that I grew up in, I didn’t know so much outside of it. A lot of kids in that bubble, their parents were donating to schools and doing stuff that advantaged. It’s not fair and it’s not right, but it was happening. And so, when this first came out, I was like, ‘I don’t really understand what’s wrong with this.’”

Olivia Jade further stressed that she’s not trying to “victimize” herself, adding, “I don’t want pity. I don’t deserve pity. We messed up. I just want a second chance to say I recognized I messed up. I really own that this was a big mess up on everybody’s fault. But I feel like everybody feels that way in my family right now.”

By the end of the 30-minute conversation, Olivia Jade made it clear she’s committed to learning and growing. “I think what was important was for me to come here and say I’m sorry and acknowledge that was wrong,” she added. “I wasn’t able to say that for so long. I took my privilege and all my blessings for granted and I never thought anything of it and that’s what really rocked me.”

“I want to move forward and I totally, totally understand if people aren’t ready to jump on board with me, but I’m here because I want to leave it on the table,” she added. “I don’t want to keep dragging this throughout my life.”