Lori Loughlin's Daughter Posts First YouTube Video After Months Of Social Media Silence
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Social media star Olivia Jade Giannulli, whose parents actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli face charges in the college admissions scandal, broke her months-long silence on YouTube Sunday.
"Though I'm terrified to make this video and come back, I know that I also want to start making smaller steps in the right direction," she said in her first YouTube video since her parents were charged and arrested in the case that snared so many wealthy parents across the country.
Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes to have their daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team, despite neither one having ever played in the sport. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are facing up to 60 years in prison.
Jade, who was a freshman at USC when the scandal broke, went silent on social media after her parents arrest in March. She had posted videos from her dorm room, including one where she said she doesn't "really care about school." She later apologized for her comments.
The young social media star, who had millions of subscribers across YouTube and Instagram, lost several advertising deals after the extent of the charges became known. USC said it would review the applications of students involved in the scandal, but Jade and her sister, Isabella Giannulli, are reportedly no longer enrolled at the university.
Jade said she stayed away from social media because she was legally prohibited about talking about the scandal, and it seemed pointless to appear and ignore it. But, the siren song of social media proved too much to resist.
"A part of me is like, should I come back to YouTube right now because it's been so long? And I actually really, really miss it, like I genuinely miss filming. I feel like a huge part of me is just not the same cause this is something I'm really passionate about, something I really like to do," she said in the video.
