Olivia Jade defends work ethic almost 2 years after parents were exposed in college admission scandal

Olivia Jade Giannulli has defended her work ethic two years after her parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, became the center of the college admissions scandal.

According to Fox News, the scandal kicked off in 2019 when it came to light that her parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli paid USD 500,000 to scam mastermind William 'Rick' Singer to get her and her sister, Isabella, recruited to the University of Southern California's crew team despite neither girl previously participating in the sport.

Loughlin finished serving two months behind bars in December 2020 for her role in the scandal. Loughlin agreed to serve two months and pay a USD 150,000 fine along with two years of supervised release and 100 hours of community service.

Her husband, Mossimo, meanwhile, was ordered to pay a USD 250,000 fine with two years of supervised release and 250 hours of community service in addition to a five-month prison sentence. He got out of prison in April of last year.

In a recent episode of her podcast 'Conversations with Olivia Jade', the 22-year-old said there's been "a big misconception about me," noting that she's heard the comment, "You don't work hard" before. "But I didn't have to start my YouTube when I was 14. I did put in a lot of work," she said .

The beauty influencer went on to defend her work ethic and grades she received in school during her teenage years. Olivia said, "I don't even think I've ever said this publicly but in high school, I had straight A's. I worked really hard at school."

The podcast episode comes a little over a year since she spoke out for the first time about the scandal in an interview on 'Red Table Talk'.

"It's been hard, I think, for anybody," the former University of Southern California student admitted to host Jada Pinkett Smith.

She added, "No matter what the situation is, you don't want to see your parents go to prison. But I think it's necessary for us to move on and move forward."

Olivia has since returned to her YouTube channel after a hiatus during the scandal. She also starred on the most recent season of 'Dancing with the Stars'. She previously spoke about the experience and what the positive reinforcement and admiration means for her after spending so much time feeling "shame" over her part in the college scandal, as per Fox News.

( With inputs from ANI )

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