Olivia Jade Giannuli has complained about being ‘publicly shamed’ for her parents’ role in the college admissions scandal and said people were ‘quick to judge’ her.
The 21-year-old took to TikTok on Friday made the comments as she shared a message from a ‘very inspirational woman’ in the midst of the fallout from her family’s involvement in the scandal.
Her parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced to two and five months in prison, respectively, for paying Rick Singer $500,000 to get Olivia Jade and her sister Isabella into USC as crew recruits.
Neither teen participated in the sport but their applications featured photos of them posing on rowing machines.
In her video, Olivia Jade said: ‘We were talking about being publicly shamed, and I was like, ‘Well, my situation doesn’t even compare, I’m not even going to start to compare it to yours,’
‘And she looked at me and said, “Olivia, it doesn’t matter if I’m drowning in 60 feet of water and you’re drowning in 30, we’re both still drowning.”‘
The 21-year-old took to TikTok on Friday to share a message she had received from a ‘very inspirational woman’ in the midst of the college scandal fallout
She added: ‘I think about that quote every day because I think it’s so true and it’s such a bigger message to our world right now. I think we’re all very quick to judge. I think we’re all very quick to put people down.
‘I just want people to remember, if your feelings are hurting, if they’re valid to you, they’re valid. It doesn’t matter if someone is going through worse,’ she said. ‘You’re allowed to have a hard time in this world. But that doesn’t take away from somebody else, and that shouldn’t take away from you. We’re all human beings.’
Just last December, Olivia Jade made her first public remarks about the scandal on ‘Red Table Talk,’ saying she doesn’t want or deserve pity.
She admitted she didn’t think there was anything wrong with college bribery but now realizes that it’s wrong and that her family ‘messed up’.
‘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,’ she said.
Olivia Jade said: ‘I think we’re all very quick to judge. I think we’re all very quick to put people down’
Her parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced to two and five months in prison, respectively, for paying Rick Singer $500,000 to get their daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella into USC as crew recruits
Loughlin and Giannuli were implicated in the college admissions scandal after Rick Singer began cooperating with investigators in September 2018. He secretly recorded his phone calls with the former Full House star and her fashion designer husband to build the case against them.
He ultimately pleaded guilty in 2019 to racketeering, money laundering and fraud. He faces up to 65 years in prison but will not be officially sentenced until everyone else indicted in the scheme is.
Prosecutors said parents paid Singer more than $25million to cheat their children into the country’s most esteemed colleges between 2011 and 2018.
More than 50 people were charged in the scandal that saw parents pay bribes of up to $6million to get their children into top universities like Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC in what authorities described as the ‘largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.’
Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman were among the most high-profile defendants in the case.
Neither teen participated in the sport but their applications featured photos of them posing on rowing machines
Just last December, Olivia Jade made her first public remarks about the scandal on ‘Red Table Talk,’ saying she doesn’t want or deserve pity
Huffman and her spouse — ‘Shameless’ star William H. Macy, who was not charged — made a charitable donation of $15,000 to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme, on behalf of their eldest daughter.
Huffman had initially planned to do the same thing for her youngest daughter, before later backing out, investigators said.
Loughlin and Giannulli initially pleaded not guilty, claiming they believed they were making a legitimate contribution to USC with their $500,000 payment to Singer.
Facing up to 40 years behind bars each, they later reversed course and struck a plea deal with prosecutors.
Loughlin and Giannulli initially pleaded not guilty, claiming they believed they were making a legitimate contribution to USC with their $500,000 payment to Singer
Loughlin was released from federal lockup at CI Dublin in California on December 28, where she served the entirety of her two month prison sentence, as stated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The Full House star reportedly had a ‘tearful’ reunion with her daughters Olivia Jade, 21, and Bella Rose, 22, when she finally returned to their Malibu mansion.
Giannulli, however, is still serving his five-month sentence at a prison in Lompoc near Santa Barbara, California for his role in the college admissions bribery scheme.
He is scheduled to be released on April 17. Prosecutors said Giannulli deserved a tougher sentence because he was ‘the more active participant in the scheme’.