Lori Loughlin’s daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli, are no longer enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) following the college admissions scandal.
The Full House actress and husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged in March in the scheme to get their two daughters fraudulently accepted to USC by paying $500,000 to have them labelled as crew-team recruits at USC, even though neither is a rower.
The USC Registrar confirmed to People that “Olivia Jade Giannulli and Isabella Rose Giannulli are not currently enrolled.”
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The school would not confirm whether Loughlin’s daughters were expelled because of the college admission scandal.
“We are unable to provide additional information because of student privacy laws,” the registrar said
A total of 15 parents have pleaded guilty, while 19 are contesting the charges, including Loughlin and her fashion designer husband. Trials are expected to begin in 2020.
In March, Olivia Jade was on the yacht of Rick Caruso, the chairman of USC’s board of trustees, when her parents were indicted.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Olivia Jade was in the Bahamas for spring break with Caruso’s 19-year-old daughter Gianna (Gigi) Caruso before returning to Los Angeles.
“My daughter and a group of students left for spring break prior to the government’s announcement yesterday. Once we became aware of the investigation, the young woman decided it would be in her best interest to return home,” Rick Caruso said in a statement.
“The charges filed yesterday against employees of USC are disturbing and the alleged activity is absolutely wrong,” Caruso continued. “I am saddened that these people would abuse their positions of trust and, as the government has alleged, victimize USC in the process. There is no option other than zero tolerance for this type of behaviour. As a result, USC has fired the alleged wrongdoers.”
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Olivia Jade, a social media influencer, came under scrutiny in March for a video she posted to YouTube before beginning her fall semester last year. The video has since been deleted.
In the video, Olivia Jade said she didn’t care about school and was just there to experience the “partying” and game days.
She also used her college experience as branded advertising opportunities for companies such as Amazon Prime.
Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli pleaded not guilty on April 15 to charges that they paid $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters into USC.
The couple is among 50 prominent parents, athletic coaches and others charged in a sweeping college admissions bribery scandal that has embroiled elite schools across the U.S., such as Stanford, Georgetown and Yale.
Loughlin and Giannulli filed court documents waiving their right to appear for an arraignment and entering not guilty pleas to the two charges against them. The judge granted their requests, meaning they will not have to show up at Boston’s federal court to be arraigned.
Thirty-three wealthy parents were charged in March in what authorities have called the biggest college admissions case ever prosecuted by the Justice Department. They are accused of paying admissions consultant Rick Singer to rig standardized test scores and bribe college coaches and other insiders to get their children into selective schools.
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Loughlin and Giannulli are charged with paying bribes to have their daughters designated as crew recruits to USC. Authorities say Loughlin and Giannulli helped create fake athletic profiles for the teens by sending Singer photos of their teens posing on rowing machines.
After their older daughter was admitted to USC, authorities say Giannulli, whose Mossimo clothing line had long been a Target brand until recently, sent Singer an email with the subject line “Trojan happiness,” thanking him for his “efforts and end result!”
Prosecutors added a money-laundering conspiracy charge against Loughlin, Giannulli and more than a dozen other parents who are still fighting the case, increasing the pressure on them to plead guilty. Several other parents who were indicted alongside Loughlin and Giannulli have also filed court documents entering not guilty pleas.
Each of the charges against Loughlin and Giannulli calls for up to 20 years in prison, although first-time offenders would get only a small fraction of that if convicted.
—With files from the Associated Press
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