Olivia Jade Giannulli, has broken her silence on the scandal that sent both of her parents to prison.
Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli along with their daughters Olivia Jade and Bella, is in the middle of this college admissions scandal. One in which parents bribed college officials to get their children into universities under false pretenses.
She appeared on Tuesday on the Red Table Talk via Facebook Watch with Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and Willow Smith.
Right off the bat, Banfield-Norris was very vocal on how much she didn’t want Olivia Jade on the show.
“You know, I fought it tooth and nail,” Banfield-Norris said referring to Giannulli’s appearance. “I just found it really ironic that she chose three Black women to reach out to for her redemption story. I feel like here we are, [a] white woman coming to Black women for support when we don’t get the same from them. It’s just, it’s bothersome to me on so many levels. Her being here is the epitome of white privilege to me.”
She pointed out that, “It’s not our responsibility to raise her consciousness.”
Regardless of everything that was said, Olivia Jade Giannulli didn’t back out and sat in the seat of the Red Table Talk.
“I think that this has been a really eye-opening experience for me and situation, and although there’s a lot of negative around it, and there’s a lot of mistakes and wrongdoings, it’s led me to have a completely different outlook on a lot of situations,” said Giannulli.
She wanted to break her silence in a safe space, where she wouldn’t feel attacked, and where she can be honest with her feelings. According to Olivia Jade, it was the Red Table Talk for her.
Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison and Mossimo Giannulli got five months for their roles in the scandal. Both of whom has to pay a huge fine and render hours of community service.
Giannulli let us in on how their family had a conversation about the scandal and what really happened. “I think that what hasn’t been super public is that there is no justifying or excusing what happened, cause what happened was wrong and I think every single person in my family can be like, ‘That was messed up. That was a big mistake’,” she said.
“But 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.”
In this session of the Red Table Talk, they unpacked everything surrounding the scandal and how YouTube Star, Olivia Jade Giannulli, lost followers, endorsements.
Gammy (Banfield-Norris) didn’t bite her tongue in expressing how tiring things are especially when you’re not white.
“I’m exhausted,” said Banfield-Norris. “…with everything that we have to deal with as a community, and I just don’t have the energy to put into the fact that you lost your endorsements.”
She continued, “At the end of the day you’re gonna be okay because your parents are gonna go in, and they’re gonna do their 60 days, and they’re gonna pay their fine, and you guys will go on and you’ll be okay and you will live your life… and there’s so many of us that it is not going to be that situation. It just makes it very difficult right now for me to care.”
Giannulli said she didn’t come to the table to win people over. She wanted to apologize “for contributing to these social inequalities.” She claims that she has become “more aware” now.