John Stamos Reveals First Conversation With Lori Loughlin as College Admissions Scandal Broke
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John Stamos recalls his conversations with Lori Loughlin — over her allegedly tapped phone line — as the 2019 college admissions scandal broke in a new excerpt from the audiobook version of his new memoir, If You Would Have Told Me (out today, Oct. 24).
Taking us all the way back to those halcyon days of March 2019, Stamos recalls first getting a text from a friend about the scandal and Loughlin’s involvement as it was breaking. It was still early in the morning, Stamos says, and there wasn’t much information available, so he called Loughlin himself.
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Stamos says he asked Loughlin if she was OK, saying he’d just heard something “about a college scandal with your daughters.” Loughlin’s reply: “Oh that, I’m not sure… But I have seen some emails lately from lawyers to [husband Mossimo Giannulli], but I stay out of it.”
Stamos then adds: “Before I could process her response, I noticed an odd clicking sound on the phone line. When I ask her about it, she again adopts her laissez-faire tone, ‘Oh, um, they may be bugging my phone, so…’ ‘Oh, I don’t know who this is — sorry, wrong number!’ Click, and I hang up as fast as I can.” (Despite the potential phone tap, Stamos goes on to say he texted Loughlin not long after as more details about the scandal emerged on the news.)
For those that need a quick refresher, Loughlin and Giannuli were among the most high-profile figures implicated in “Operation Varsity Blues.” They were accused of paying the scam’s alleged mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, $500,000 to have their two daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, even though neither girl was on the crew team in high school. After originally trying to fight the case against them, the couple ended up pleading guilty to fraud conspiracy charges and served two months in prison in 2020.
Stamos doesn’t exactly get into all the details and instead speaks glowingly about Loughlin’s “resilience” and the sacrifices parents make for their kids. “I’m not sure I could’ve taken the hit she did with the resilience she showed,” Stamos says. “No matter how hard she was hit, how desperate everyone was to cancel her and throw her in with a pile of brutal criminals, she stood fast, protecting her daughters from the mud that was hurled at them day after day after day.”
Later, Stamos says, “The true measure of our accountability is our recovery,” and talks about watching Loughlin “face the consequences” for her actions. “I watched Lori embrace her responsibility, fulfill the legal requirements — as did her husband — and dust herself off with unwavering determination. What struck me the most was her sheer grit and ability to gather the pieces of her shattered world and rebuild. Her undying devotion to her family is a testament to her character.”
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