The college admissions scandal is one that has shaken the entire world, not just the United States, as privileged families made bribes to ensure their children got into their first choice universities and colleges.
Who is Olivia Jade?
Olivia Jade is a lifestyle YouTuber, but you probably know her as the daughter of fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli actress Lori Loughlin, best known for her roles in Full House and 90210. After graduating from Marymount High School, Olivia was accepted into university, where she made money off her student experience by working with large companies, including Amazon Student and Smile Direct Club. However, Olivia’s admission did not occur in the usual way.
Both of her parents were arrested in 2019, with dozens of others for being a part of the largest commission scam the USA had ever seen. Lori and Mossimo had allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters, Olivia and Isabella, into The University of Southern California.
What happened after the scandal?
After Olivia found out about what her parents had done, she did not return to university as she was too embarrassed and spent the next few months out of the public eye. This included stepping away from her Youtube channel that she had spent years developing.
However, sympathy from her fans was limited as Olivia had said in past videos that she was only at college for the experience and parties and that she didn’t really care about school.
Her family’s involvement in the scandal also meant that Olivia was subjected to public shaming. Brands that had been working with the YouTuber, such as Sephora, were ending their partnerships as they did not want to be associated with the scandal.
In December 2019, Olivia uploaded a video to her YouTube channel entitled ‘Hi again’. In the video, she explained how much she has missed filming her videos but is legally unable to speak about certain things that are going on. Although she does not say it, this seems to be a reference to the college admissions scandal.
Despite this video, Olivia didn’t start regularly creating content again until 2021. Her channel now has nearly 2 million subscribers, and since joining in 2014, she has amassed more than 191 million views.
Both parents pleaded guilty in May 2020. Her father was sentenced to 5 months in prison, 250 hours of community service and fined $250,000. Whereas her mother Lori had to pay a fine of $150,000, complete a two-month prison sentence, and complete 100 hours of community service.
What happened in her Red Table Interview?
In December 2020, Olivia had an exclusive interview on Red Table Talk, where she addressed the issues of what had happened.
She said: “It’s been hard I think for anyone no matter what the situation is you don’t want to see your parents go to prison, but also I think it’s necessary for us to move on and move forward.”
Since her Red Table Interview, Olivia seems to have fully rejoined social media and is regaining control of her life by focusing on the positives. However, her interview has also caused some controversy about what she had hoped to achieve and whether that was to clear the air or make it easier to go back to being an influencer.
What’s next?
Olivia seems to be refocusing on her YouTube career, and we can expect to see her create more content for her channel. She is also one of the many people that appears in the Netflix documentary College Admissions Scandal, which was released in March 2021. She also regularly posts on her Instagram account oliviajade, which has more than 1.2 million followers.
