College Admissions Scandal

Olivia Jade Reacts to ‘Gossip Girl' Reference to Mom Lori Loughlin Going to Prison

Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison for her role in the college admissions scandal, and her husband, Massimo Giannulli, was sentenced to five

Actress Lori Loughlin and daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli
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Olivia Jade Giannulli has a short and sweet message for the HBO Max writers who decided to reference her mom's prison stint in an episode of the "Gossip Girl" reboot.

Over the weekend, the 21-year-old shared a TikTok video of herself watching a scene from the show's premiere. During the short clip, Giannulli shakes her head in annoyance as the characters talk about her mom, Lori Loughlin, participating in the college admissions scandal.

The scene begins with "Gossip Girl" character Monet De Haan, played by Savannah Smith, telling her friend that losing is "bad for business." Then another character, Luna La, played by Zión Moreno, supports her point, adding, "Everything will be fine so long as you win. Olivia Jade gained followers when her mom went to jail."

Giannulli was visibly perturbed as she listened and refuted the line, saying, "No, I didn't."

Throughout the entire TikTok clip, the beauty influencer looks annoyed, and she clearly wasn't thrilled to see her mom's prison stint became the punchline in the much-anticipated HBO Max series. Giannulli disabled comments on the post.

Both Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, received prison sentences for their involvement in the college admissions scheme, in which more than 50 parents and educators were arrested and accused of using fraudulent means to get their children accepted at top universities.

In December, Olivia Jade Giannulli spoke out about her parents' involvement in the scandal during an episode of Jada Pinkett Smith and Willow Smith's Facebook Watch show, "Red Table Talk."

"This has been a really eye-opening experience for me ... and although there's a lot of negative around it, and a lot of mistakes and wrongdoing, it's led me to have a completely different outlook on a lot of situations," she told the hosts.

She also acknowledged that while watching her parents go to prison was hard, it was necessary for her family to put the experience behind them.

"What happened was wrong. 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," she added.

In March, Olivia Jade Giannulli opened up about feeling "publicly shamed."

"I think we're all very quick to judge. I think we're all very quick to put people down. I just want people to remember if your feelings are hurting, if they're valid to you, they're valid, and it doesn't matter if someone's going through worse,” she said.

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