This past Tuesday, March 12, has led to a whirlwind of scandal. As a result of the latest college admissions scam, several high-profile universities like Yale, USC, and UCLA have been thrown into the spotlight, as well as well-known celebs such as Felicity Hoffman and Lori Loughlin. Among those involved in the scheme is YouTuber Olivia Jade Giannulli, Loughlin’s daughter, who is now facing backlash online.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Olivia’s parents paid $500,000 for both Olivia and her older sister, Isabella Rose, to attend USC under the guise of being recruited as university crew team members. While it is still unclear whether or not she was aware of the bribery, Olivia has ultimately become a major part of the scandal. Whether you follow her Youtube channel or are one of her 1.3M Instagram followers, here’s what you might not know about Olivia:
Name:
Olivia Jade Giannulli
Age:
19
Parents:
Full House actress, Lori Loughlin & fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli
Major:
Communications
School:
University of Southern California
Olivia created her Youtube channel “Olivia Jade” in 2014. Since its start, her channel has garnered over 155M views and has a little under 2M followers. Her videos mostly focus on beauty, fashion, and, you guessed it, college. One of her more popular videos is her “non-sponsored” College Dorm Tour 2018 video posted on Sept. 4, which now has over 1M views.
One particular comment that Olivia made in her Youtube vlog, “basically all the tea you need to know about me (boys, college, youtubers),” has received significant attention. In the video she says, “I don’t know how much of school I’m going to attend, but I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of game days, partying…I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”
But, since that video, she has released the following vlog:
…and this tweet:
YouTube will always be my #1 passion. I promise I’d way rather be filming 24/7 than sitting in 6 hours of classes straight but an education is also super important to me so thank u for ur patience and letting me figure out time management . Ily bbs
— Olivia Jade (@oliviajadee) February 6, 2019
On top of her Youtube channel, she has released her own palette with Sephora Collection, has partnered with numerous brands including Amazon Student Prime, Tresemme, and Clinique, and was spotlighted in a Teen Vogue article.
Her Instagram profile resembles that of a typical influencer: It captures BTS shots from photoshoots, pictures of Olivia with her friends and her famous mom, brand partnerships, and selfies. Since the scandal broke, she has disabled her Instagram comments.
While her student status and brand deals may be in jeopardy, only time will tell how this scandal will unfold and how, on a larger level, college admissions will be affected and hopefully, improved.