Lori Loughlin’s Daughter’s Tell-All Interview Finally Airs – ‘We Messed Up’

Olivia Jade Giannulli, the daughter of former “Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli, broke her silence while speaking to Jada Pinkett Smith of “Red Table Talk” today to tell her side of the college admissions scandal that landed both of her parents in prison.

The anticipation for Olivia Jade’s “open” and “honest” conversation about the scandal was high.

The 21 year-old social media influencer gave her first interview since the scandal broke over a year ago when she sat down on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk” Tuesday at noon ET. 

Olivia opened up during their conversation about her parents being in prison for allegedly paying $500,000 in bribe money to have her and her older sister Isabella admitted to the University of Southern California as members of the crew team, even though neither of them had ever rowed before.

Lori Loughlin’s Daughter Olivia Jade Breaks Her Silence 

“It’s been hard,” Olivia began. “I think 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.”

She went on to admit that her family “messed up.”

“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,'” she explained. “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.”

Related: Lori Loughlin Is A ‘Wreck’ Days After Starting Her Prison Sentence, Her Daughters ‘Distraught’

Lori Loughlin’s daughter also recalled the moment that she first realized that the college admissions scandal had become a national sensation.

“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 “didn’t really 100 percent understand what just had happened.”

However, in one of the more controversial moments of the interview, Olivia admitted that she “wasn’t angry” with her parents because at the time, she “didn’t see the wrong” with what they had done. 

“When all of this first happened and it became public, I remember thinking — which, my thoughts are completely different now — but I remember thinking, ‘How are people mad about this?'” she recalled.

“I know that sounds so silly but in the bubble I grew up in, I didn’t know so much outside of it, and a lot of kids in that bubble, their kids were donating to schools and doing stuff …. so many advantages, it’s not fair and its not right, but it was happening. And so when this first came out I was like, ‘I don’t really understand, what is wrong with this?'” Olivia added. 

Olivia Jade Reveals Lori Loughlin’s Motives 

Olivia Jade went on to suggest that her parents were operating under a similar mindset. 

“I just want people to know, they were just, like, in their heads,” she said. “It was like, ‘Everybody has a college counselor and I will just donate to a school like all my friends did with their kids,’ and I think what is crazier is how so many people in our area don’t recognize that it’s wrong. I think although it took a crazy experience for me and my family to realize that, I am happy that we do. That will never happen when I have kids — that will never happen.”

The 21-year-old influencer then doubled down on trying to explain her parents’ actions:

“I can understand how wrong it is and we had the means to do something and we completely took it and ran with it and it’s something that was wrong. It really can’t be excused, like on paper it’s bad, it’s really bad. But I think what a lot of people don’t know is my parents came from a place of, ‘I love my kids, I just want to help my kids, whatever is best for them. I have worked my whole life to provide for my family.’

I think they thought it was normal. And I think that there was a college counselor involved who seemed legitimate and ended up not being legitimate, and in that community, it was not out of the ordinary, and it’s embarrassing to say that I didn’t know.”

Olivia Jade Discusses Mom Lori Loughlin’s Prison Sentence

Loughlin and Giannulli are each in the middle of serving their respective two and five month prison sentences.

Though this has obviously been hard on Olivia Jade, she told Smith that them being in jail may turn out to be “a blessing.”

“I know she’s strong and it’s a good reflection period,” she said of Loughlin. “I know that it’s a positive that she’s in there right now, she gets to really rethink everything that happened, kind of figure out when she comes out what she wants to do, what she’s learned through all of this and I think that hopefully will be a blessing in the end.”

Related: LeBron James Reacts After Learning Lori Loughlin Will Serve Her Sentence At Cushy Prison

Olivia never returned to school at USC once the scandal broke, and she admitted in the interview that she “shouldn’t have been there in the first place, clearly, so there was no point in me trying to go back.”

Instead, she’s been spending much of her time mentoring at-risk students in Los Angeles in the hopes of gaining some perspective in life.

What The Future Holds

In the end, Olivia Jade is hoping to move forward and put the college admissions scandal behind her. 

“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 said. “I don’t want to keep dragging this throughout my life.”

Whether or not Olivia Jade and her family will ever be able to fully put this scandal behind them remains to be seen.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were the two most high-profile parents who chose to fight these charges for over a year. So, in the process, these celebrities became the poster family for the entire college admissions scandal.

Had they taken responsibility right away for their actions, like Loughlin’s fellow actress Felicity Huffman did, perhaps they would have been able to put this in the rearview mirror at some point.

Because they didn’t, however, it would not be surprising if their family name is synonymous with this scandal for many years to come. 

“Red Table Talk” is only available on Facebook Watch so you can find Olivia Jade’s full episode on the social network’s website here.