What’s up guys, it’s Sussan Mourad with Clevver News, and Olivia Jade has broken her
silence following her parents’ college admission scandal arrest during Jada Pinkett Smith’s
Red Table Talk, so get comfy and pull up a seat because we’ve got a lot to discuss.
Olivia Jade Giannulli is officially speaking out in her first-ever interview since her
parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were imprisoned for their role in the infamous
college admission scandal last year.
To give you a quick refresher, Lori and Mossimo were arrested back in March of last year after
for paying $500,000 in bribes and committing mail fraud to ensure that Olivia and their
other daughter Bella would be admitted to USC under the guise of being crew team recruits,
for a sport they did not participate in.
As a result, Lori was sentenced to two months in prison and Mossimo was set to serve five
months, as well as two years of supervised release, community service, and monetary fines.
Both Lori and Mossimo were ordered to report to their respective prisons last month on
November 19th.
Meanwhile, Olivia Jade has maintained her silence as her parents continue to finish
out their sentences… until now.
Olivia joined the Smith women including Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow and her
mother Adrienne during this morning’s episode of Red Table Talk, but even before Olivia
joined the ladies, Adrienne made it clear that she was not thrilled to be conducting
the interview.
“You know, I fought it tooth and nail.
I just found it really ironic that, um, she chose three black women to reach out to for
her redemption story.”
Jada, on the other hand, sympathized with Olivia, stating QUOTE, “To me, this young
girl is reaping the repercussions of some actions of her parents.”
She added, “When I heard her story, it just reminded me of Jaden, Willow and Trey.
As a parent, I’m like, ‘Oh I ve been in that position of me thinking I know what’s
best for my kids,’ and then they suffer the consequences of it.”
But as Willow chimed in to perfectly state, “Bottom line, we can’t act like we know
exactly what happened.”
So without further adieu, Olivia then joined the ladies and admitted to being extremely
nervous as she walked into the room.
Olivia started off by saying that although it’s been difficult seeing her parents go
to prison, she is fully aware that the family knows what they did was inexcusable and completely
wrong.
Many fans were also surprised to hear that since being admitted, Olivia hasn’t spoken
to her mom during her time behind bars given the prison’s pandemic protocol.
However, she DID reveal that the family has had many conversations about what happened
since last year’s arrest.
“I think that what hasn’t been super public is that there is no justifying or excusing
what happened, ‘cause what happened was wrong.
And I think everyone in my family can say that was messed up that was a big mistake.”
Olivia also recalled that she found out about her parents’ arrest while on spring break,
“I was sitting with a group of friends and I knew any second everybody was going to know
too, if they didn't already, and I remember just freezing and feeling so ashamed — I
went home and hid myself for probably three or four months.”
Despite feeling humiliated by her and her family’s actions and not knowing 100% of
everything that was going on when applying to USC, Olivia made it clear that she was
not trying to victimize herself.
She said QUOTE, “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.’”
She added that because of the legality of the situation over the past year and a half,
QUOTE, “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 also touched on the topic of white privilege and being so far in her own little
bubble that she didn’t realize the privilege she had until it was pointed out by fans who
criticized her following the scandal.
“I think I had to go through the backlash in this stuff because when you read it, you
realize that there’s, like, some truth in it.”
One shocking piece of evidence that many fans latched onto throughout the scandal was one
of Olivia’s YouTube videos, where she basically admits she only wanted to attend USC to party.
“Like, the fact that you even could say those things just shows how fortunate you
were, that you didn’t have to worry about that.
That you knew you were gonna be ok without it.”
She addressed the topic on her own, admitting that the video haunts her to this day as she
still feels embarrassed she ever said those words.
In recent weeks, Olivia has taken time to reflect on the past year, and has since committed
herself to giving back to the Los Angeles community.
She said QUOTE, “I had a really cool experience a few weeks back where I went downtown in
the Watts area and I got to work with some kids in this after school program and it kind
of just shifted my whole mentality.”
Olivia recalled the kids simply being grateful for an education and for being able to escape
to a safe place.
She said, “I was watching all of them and I was thinking about my situation and that
I took all of that for granted.
I didn't think that I was lucky to have that, I just expected it because that's what I grew
up around.
So it was a big shift in my head knowing, ‘Okay, let's start recognizing where the
wrongs are in that.’”
When it comes down to it, Olivia and her family appear to have learned some valuable lessons
amid the scandal.
She is now focusing on picking up the pieces and moving forward, but did explain that,
QUOTE “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.
I don't want to keep dragging this throughout my life.”
It’s clear that there’s still much more that needs to be done in order for the Giannulli
family to earn back the respect of millions of people, and only time will tell how long
that may take…
This interview was certainly a good start and step in the right direction for Olivia
Jade.
For all the details on Olivia’s initial feelings following Lori’s imprisonment,
click right over here to watch another Clevver video.
And I’m sure you guys have PLENTY of thoughts on Olivia’s interview, so be sure to get
the conversation going right down here in the comments.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, you can find me on Instagram @Sussan_Mourad, bye guys!