Olivia Jade Giannulli brought herself to the red table to confront the college admissions scandal her parents, actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are currently serving time for. She joined Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield, and Willow Smith on their Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk to reflect on the controversy in her first interview since news broke. Giannulli recognizes that the family “messed up†and only wants to move forward. “I’m not trying to victimize myself,†she said. “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.’ 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,’ but I think everybody feels that way in my family right now.â€
She explains that she found out about the scandal while on spring break with her friends from university. “I was sitting with a group of friends and I knew any second everybody was going to know too, if they didn’t already, and I remember just freezing and feeling so ashamed — I went home and hid myself for probably three or four months,†she recalled, adding that she was “too embarrassed†to go back to school. “I shouldn’t have been there in the first place, clearly, so there was no point in me trying to go back,†she said.
The influencer also addressed a now-infamous YouTube video she made, telling subscribers that while she wanted the “game days†and “partying†she didn’t “really care about school.†“That sits with me and makes me cringe and it’s embarrassing that I ever said those types of things — and not only said them but edited it, uploaded it and then saw the response to realize it was wrong,†she told the hosts.
As for her parents, Giannulli admits that her ignorance about her own privilege meant she never realized what they were doing was bad, not even after the news broke. She “wasn’t angry†because she “didn’t see the wrong.†“I was like, ‘Why is everybody complaining?’†she said. “That’s embarrassing within itself, that I walked around my whole 20 years of life not realizing, ‘You have insane privilege.†Giannulli said she hadn’t spoken to either of her parents since they began their sentences, but she and her sister have grown closer amid the scandal. “I want to move forward and I totally, totally understand if people aren’t ready to jump on board with me, but I’m here because I want to leave it on the table,†she added. “I don’t want to keep dragging this throughout my life.â€