9 Revelations From Olivia Jade's Red Table Talk About the College-Admissions Scandal
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Olivia Jade Giannulli had some healing that needed to happen. Over a year after her parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, were incriminated in a high-profile college-admissions bribery scandal, the beauty influencer and vlogger appeared on Red Table Talk to share her perspective and ultimately begin her anticipated apology tour.
"There is no justifying or excusing what happened. What happened was wrong," Olivia told Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith, and Adrienne Banfield Norris. As a refresher, Lori and Mossimo were accused of paying for Olivia and their other daughter, Isabella Rose Giannulli, to be admitted into the University of Southern California as crew team recruits, despite the fact that neither of them participated in the sport. In August, Lori was sentenced to two months in federal prison and Mossimo was sentenced to five months. They both began their sentences in November.
It's worth noting the decision to have Olivia on Red Table Talk was not exactly welcomed by everyone. "I fought it tooth and nail. I just found it really ironic that she chose three Black women to reach out to for her redemption story," Adrienne said at the start of the episode. "It's not our responsibility to raise her consciousness." Jada, however, described the conversation as a "practice of compassion."
The interview was also a major moment for the Facebook Watch show, receiving over 400,000 views in two hours. Read the most revelatory quotes ahead.
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9 Standout Quotes From Olivia Jade's Red Table Talk Interview
- Olivia was vacationing during spring break when the news broke: "I just remember getting a call, and it was like, 'Hey Liv, have you talked to your mom.' And I was like, 'No, why?' And they were like, 'Well, I'll just let you talk to her and then call me back.' So I hang up the phone, and I had this really weird gut feeling. I didn't know what she was talking about, but I just searched my mom's name up. Then, it's everywhere. I was sitting with a group of friends, and I knew any second everybody was gonna know too — if they didn't already. I remember just freezing and feeling so ashamed. I went home and hid myself for probably three or four months."
- On her decision to not return to USC: "I never went back. I was too embarrassed. I shouldn't have been there in the first place clearly, so there was no point in me trying to go back."
- Olivia regrets her infamous comments about just wanting to party at USC: "That sits with me and makes me cringe and it's embarrassing that I ever said those types of things. Not only said them, but edited it, uploaded it, and then saw the response to realize it was wrong. There was no malicious intent behind it. I was never trying to hurt anybody or say those things to brag about my life. I was oblivious."
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- On her parents' sentencing: "It's been hard. For anybody, 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."
- On her parents' intentions: "It really can't be excused. On paper, it's bad. It's really bad. But I think what a lot of people don't understand is, my parents came of a place of, 'I love my kids. I just want to help my kids. Whatever is best for them. I've worked my whole life to provide for my family.' I think they thought it was normal."
- Olivia hasn't spoken to her parents since they reported to prison: "I actually haven't spoken to either of them. There's a quarantine phase just cause of COVID, so I think that is the reason but I'm not too sure. I just haven't heard anything, so I'm just waiting . . . I'm super close with my parents, especially my mom. She's like my best friend. So, it's definitely been really hard not being able to talk to her, but I know she's strong. I know it's a good reflection period."
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"When it was happening, it didn't feel wrong."
- On what she's learned: "I really felt most moved by the fact that we did all of this and were so ignorant. A huge part of having privilege is not knowing you have privilege, and so when it was happening, it didn't feel wrong . . . I was in my own little bubble, focusing on my comfortable world. I never had to look outside of that bubble . . . I remember thinking, 'How are people mad about this?' I know that sounds so silly, but in the bubble that I grew up in, I didn't know so much outside of it. A lot of kids in that bubble, their parents were donating to schools and doing stuff that advantaged [them]. It's not fair, and it's not right, but it was happening."
- Olivia doesn't consider herself to be a victim: "I'm not trying to victimize myself. I don't want pity. I don't deserve pity. We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, I recognize I messed up. For so long, I wasn't able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it. I never got to say, 'I'm really sorry that this happened' or 'I really own that this was a big mess up on everybody's part.'"
- Olivia hopes the public will grant her a second chance: "I think what's so important to me is to learn from the mistake — not to now be shamed and punished and never given a second chance. I'm 21. I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show I've grown."