John Stamos defends Full House costar Lori Loughlin following college admissions scandal

John Stamos has defended his Full House TV wife, Lori Loughlin, in a big way now that the dust has settled on her college admissions scandal.

Stamos, who played Jesse Katsopolis on the sitcom opposite Loughlin's Rebecca Katsopolis, addressed the topic while appearing on the latest episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, which aired Monday.

"You said some really nice stuff about her," Stamos told Shepard. "We talked last night about you. It was something that you were saying about how you hate when people bring her up because if you defend her, then people get mad. If you don't defend her, then you feel bad because she's a great person."

Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were among the celebrities involved in the 2019 college admissions scandal, a.k.a. the Varsity Blues scandal. Thirty-three parents of college applicants were accused of paying upwards of $25 million to William Rick Singer, who then used those funds to fudge entrance exam scores and documents, and bribe college officials to gain them entrance into universities.

Jerod Harris/WireImage John Stamos with his 'Full House' TV wife, Lori Loughlin

"She wasn't really the architect of any of it," Stamos said of the scandal. "She was in the way background. She didn't know what was going on."

The actor also noted how Loughlin tried to make amends. "She also paid a lot of money. She set up a college fund for kids and she went to f---ing jail, man."

Loughlin and Giannulli were arrested in 2019 after the F.B.I. investigation was made public. They were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to make their daughters seem like recruits for the University of Southern California crew team. Neither daughter participated in the sport.

Both eventually plead guilty in August 2020. Most parents involved in the scandal plead guilty or agreed to plead guilty. Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison; two years of supervised release; a $250,000 fine; and 250 hours of community service. Loughlin was sentenced to two months in jail; two years of supervised release; a $150,000 fine; and 100 hours of community service.

Loughlin has since returned to acting in series like When Calls the Heart, Garage Sale Mysteries, and When Hope Calls.

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