Lori Loughlin's Daughter Olivia Jade Joked She Was 'Literally Never at High School' in 2018 Video
Nearly a year before Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged in an alleged college admissions cheating scam, their daughter Olivia Jade joked that she was “never at school” in a video she posted on her YouTube channel.
In the 9-minute clip from May 2018, the social influencer, 19, documented her last day of high school and her class’ senior prank. Ahead of her day, Olivia Jade got ready in the bathroom where she revealed that attending class hadn’t been a top priority for her.
“I’m, like, excited to go… do the school prank,” she said. “But I’m also literally never at school that I think my class doesn’t even — and maybe they forget I go there!”
Olivia Jade then let out a laugh and clarified, “I’m just kidding!”
This isn’t the first time that Olivia Jade’s vlog has brought her past commitment to her education into question.
The teen faced backlash last year when she posted a video in which she said she was only interested in attending college for the parties. While answering fan questions, Olivia Jade said she wasn’t sure how she planned to balance her social media career while taking classes at the University of Southern California, where she is a freshman.
“I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend but I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all,” she said. “But I do want the experience of like game days, partying…I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”
After reading many comments of backlash, Olivia Jade posted a second video apology, admitting she was “disappointed” in herself.
“I said something super ignorant and stupid, basically. And it totally came across that I’m ungrateful for college — I’m going to a really nice school. And it just kind of made it seem like I don’t care, I just want to brush it off. I’m just gonna be successful at YouTube and not have to worry about school,” she said in the video. “I’m really disappointed in myself.”
The duo allegedly paid $500,000 to make it appear that their daughter had been a rower, the indictment states. Olivia Jade is not currently listed on the USC women’s rowing roster. It’s unclear if she was aware of the alleged scheme, and she was not charged. Her older sister, Isabella Rose, 20, is also enrolled at USC and was not charged.
Both Loughlin and Giannulli were arrested this week on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Giannulli appeared in federal court on Tuesday and was released after posting a $1 million bond. Loughlin made her first appearance in federal court on Wednesday in Los Angeles where a judge set her bond at $1 million, according to the Associated Press.
Although it is unclear whether or not Olivia Jade was aware of her parents’ involvement in the scandal, her booming Instagram and YouTube blogging business — she has more than 1.4 million Instagram followers and 1.9 million YouTube subscribers — has taken a hit since the news broke.
On Thursday, Sephora severed ties with the teen. Olivia Jade recently collaborated with Sephora’s in-house beauty brand, Sephora Collection, to launch the Olivia Jade x Sephora Collection Bronze & Illuminate Palette in December 2018.
“After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately,” Sephora said in a statement to PEOPLE. Olivia Jade’s makeup palette has since been removed from Sephora’s website.
In addition, Olivia Jade’s partnership with TRESemmé had ended by Friday as well.
“TRESemmé is no longer working with Olivia Jade Giannulli. After careful review of recent events, we have decided to end our partnership with [her],” a representative from TRESemmé told PEOPLE.
Her parents’ arrests and the collapse of many of her partnerships has been tough on the influencer, a source close to Olivia Jade revealed to PEOPLE.
“She feels she has worked very hard to get different work deals and everything is just gone. She thought she knew what the future had in store for her, and it all just crumbled,” a source told PEOPLE. “It’s a never-ending nightmare for her. She understands the serious consequences her parents are facing and she is very scared.”
As for her future at the University of Southern California, the source said the YouTube star has “no plans to return to USC” when classes resume on Monday, following her mom’s indictment and arrest.
“She can’t handle anything right now. She seems more and more upset every day. She just wants to stay home,” said the source.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts, the widespread effort was made by wealthy families to get their children into top colleges by falsifying SAT scores, lying about their athletic skills, and more. It’s unclear if the children were aware of any of these alleged crimes.
Some named in the court documents allegedly paid bribes of up to $6 million to get their children into elite colleges, including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, the University of Southern California, UCLA, the University of San Diego, University of Texas and Wake Forest, according to federal prosecutors.
