How Isabella Rose and Olivia Jade Giannulli Feel About Their Mom Lori Loughlin and the College Acceptance Scandal

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Lori Loughlin, Full Houses’ Becky and the wholesome regular on the Hallmark channel, is not the honest, sweet, and genuine person the public once thought.

She was a key player in the college acceptance scandal that first broke in 2019. It has since been turned into a Netflix documentary but many still have questions like how did her lookalike daughters Isabella Rose and Olivia Jade feel?

There is A LOT to unpack with the scandal with many different pieces and players.

Lori Loughlin and The Giannulli Family

Lori Loughlin is an actress who is most famous for her role on the long-running television series Full House. Her political affiliation is not known.

She is married to Mossimo Giannulli, a well-known fashion designer and founder of the fashion house Mossimo sold at Target. The couple married in 1997 and have two daughters, Bella (Isabella Rose) and Olivia Jade.

Actress Lori Loughlin and her daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli Actress Lori Loughlin and her daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the world premiere of Disney Channel’s “High School Musical 2” held at the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort on August 14, 2007, in Anaheim, California

Prior to the college admissions scandal, referred to as Operation Varsity Blues, little attention was paid to the family as a whole. However, Isabella Rose and Oliva Jade were well-known in their own right.

Olivia Jade had a large social media following, making her an influencer with big brand deals. She had 1.4 million followers on Instagram and 1.9 million subscribers on YouTube, although she lost many fans due to the scandal. Isabella Rose, however, has kept a lower profile.

Isabella Rose was born on September 16, 1998, making her 22 years old. She is the older sister, although she and her sister are close in age. Olivia Jade was born the following year on September 28, 1999, making her 21 years old.

Actress Lori Loughlin and her daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose GiannulliActress Lori Loughlin and her daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the Launch of Season 2 of “90210” hosted by NIKE and The CW at The Ricardo Montalban Theatre on September 1, 2009, in Hollywood, California

The family is very wealthy, with long, prominent careers. It is estimated that Mossimo Giannulli has a net worth of $70, and Lori Loughlin has a net worth of $30 million, with a combined net worth of $100 million.

This abundance of money distorted their view of reality, leading them to think they could pay people off to get their daughters into the college of their choice.

Operation Varsity Blue: A College Admissions Scandal

In 2018 an investigation was well underway. With the code name Operation Varsity Blues, the investigation looked to uncover a criminal conspiracy to influence admission decisions at top universities in the United States.

Lori Loughlin shows off her size 8 (US) feet in crystal-embellished high heelsLori Loughlin shows off her size 8 (US) feet in crystal-embellished high heels

Charges were made public on March 12, 2019, with 54 people being formally charged. There were 33 parents of college applicants that were accused of paying more than $25 million to a man named William Rick Singer.

Singer orchestrated the scheme and bribed various college officials, as well as fraudulently inflating exam scores. This was done through his organizations, Key Worldwide Foundation, and The Edge College & Career Network.

Singer agreed to cooperate with the FBI when given an ultimatum. He gathered incriminating evidence, including pre-recorded phone conversations with all of the parents. He has admitted to helping more than 750 students over the past decade.

Actress Lori Loughlin (C) and her daughters Isabella Rose Giannulli (L) and Olivia Jade Giannulli (R)Actress Lori Loughlin (C) and her daughters Isabella Rose Giannulli (L) and Olivia Jade Giannulli (R) arrive at Hallmark Channel’s annual holiday event premiere screening of “Northpole” at La Piazza Restaurant on November 4, 2014, in Los Angeles, California

Many of the accused parents were celebrities and prominent individuals. This includes Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli. The pair was some of the most well-known individuals charged which created a media frenzy.

The FBI had raided the family’s mansion on March 12. The parents had worked with Singer to get their daughters into the University of Southern California (USC).

This involved sending pictures of Olivia Jade on a rowing machine so that Singer could photoshop it to make her look like a crew athlete. The USC athletic director was then bribed with $50,000. The whole operation cost the parents $500,000 to get the girls into University.

Initially, they denied any involvement, maintaining their innocence until all the evidence against them forced them into finally pleading guilty.

Isabella "Bella" Rose Giannulli and Olivia Jade Giannulli kiss their mom Lori LoughlinIsabella “Bella” Rose Giannulli and Olivia Jade Giannulli kiss their mom Lori Loughlin at the Teen Choice Awards 2017 at Galen Center on August 13, 2017, in Los Angeles, California

Both parents were then sentenced. Lori was sentenced to two months in prison and a $150,000 fine, and Mossimo was sentenced to five months in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Following their release from prison, they both must serve community service. Lori has since been released. Mossimo tried to get out early, saying the COVID -induced solitary “place a significant toll on his mental, physical and emotional well-being.”

Although he was initially denied he was released a couple of weeks ago and will serve the rest of his sentence from home. It is said that his daughters, along with Lori, surprised him by picking him up together.

Olivia Jade’s Response

Upon the scandal hitting the news, many looked to the girls. They were both enrolled in USC at the time and open about getting in and attending school.

Initially, Olivia Jade remained pretty quiet as big brands like Sephora publicly announced they would no longer be partnering with the influencer.

American social media celebrity Olivia Jade Giannulli is daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo GiannulliAmerican social media celebrity Olivia Jade Giannulli is the daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli

Before she addressed the public herself, those close to her gave statements. A friend of Oliva Jade told CNN, “Olivia is devastated and completely embarrassed. She feels like she’s lost nearly all of her friends because of this. She’s barely speaking to her parents”.

In 2020 she attended the Facebook talk show Red Table Talk hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith. She finally spoke out about the scandal. She explained how she didn’t think it was against the law because she had known so many other people who had done the same thing.

Oliva Jade explained, “When all this first happened, and it became public, I remember thinking, how are people mad about this? It sounds so silly, but in the bubble that I grew up in, a lot of kids’ parents were donating to schools.”

She acknowledged the privileged bubble she was in, and she should have known it was wrong.

Olivia Jade and her mother Lori Loughlin Olivia Jade and her mother Lori Loughlin attend People’s “Ones to Watch” at NeueHouse Hollywood on October 4, 2017, in Los Angeles, California

Olivia Jade hopes that she and her family can be given a second chance. “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. What’s so important to me is to learn from the mistake, not to be shamed and punished and never given a second chance.”

The current social media climate is referred to as “cancel culture.” There are no second chances within cancel culture, but sometimes with genuine apologies and change, influencers can regain the trust of their following.

Olivia Jade has been putting her words into action. She has been working with disadvantaged schoolchildren.

She has not returned to the school either. When asked on Red Talk Table, she said, “Yeah, I never went back. I was too embarrassed. And you know what, I should have been there in the first place, clearly. So there was no point in me trying to go back.”

Isabella Rose (Bella) Response

Isabella Rose also has an impressive social media following, though not as large as her sister. Because of her parent’s efforts, she attended The University of Southern California however left shortly after Operation Varsity Blues broke.

Amidst the scandal, like her sister, Isabella Rose remained quiet. Nothing was heard from her until she posted to her Instagram on July 28, 2019.

Lori Loughlin's daughter Isabella Rose Giannulli has lunch with friends in Los AngelesLori Loughlin’s daughter Isabella Rose Giannulli has lunch with friends in Los Angeles on December 17, 2019

She was obviously standing by her parents as she shared a photo that she had taken with her mother Lori with the caption ”Happy birthday mama. I love you”.

Information following the investigation suggested that Isabella Rose was aware of what was going on at the time of the scandal. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin O’Connell wrote a memo stating, “They involved both their daughters in the fraud, directing them to pose in staged photographs for use in fake athletic profiles.”

Isabella has frequently shared pictures of her parents, especially her mother, on her social media account before the ordeal. Along with her sister, she is very close with their parents, so it is no surprise they were upset with their parent’s sentence.

After her father left for prison, Page Six reported she was seen hanging out with friends at the beach of a five-star hotel, Rosewood Miramar. Her mother reported to prison shortly before this.

Actress Lori Loughlin (R) and daughter Olivia Jade GiannulliActress Lori Loughlin (R) and daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli attend the Summer TCA Tour – Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies And Mysteries at a private residence on July 29, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California

The family had hoped that the parent’s sentences wouldn’t overlap so the girls would have more emotional support. According to a source, “Lori’s concern all along has been Isabella and Olivia Jade.”

Isabella Rose hopes to become an actress. Although she has had some minor roles, she has not yet experienced a significant amount of success. It’s hard to say yet if this scandal will have hurt her chances at an acting career.

There is no doubt it impacted her mother’s career as Hallmark officially cut ties with the actress. According to U.S. Weekly, Isabella Rose is spending time focusing on family rather than her career, and it is unknown if she will return to college.

The scandal is still fresh for the public, and even as the media attention died down following the sentencing, the Netflix special has put it back in the spotlight. With so much going on in the world, the negative attention will likely die down, and we may soon see more from the family.

Credit: Starbux / WENN / Adriana M. Barraza / Nikki Nelson / Instar / FayesVision