Hoping for ‘second chance’
Maybe Olivia Jade Giannulli had hoped for kid-glove treatment in choosing the family vibe of Red Table Talk for her first public comments about the college admissions scandal involving her famous parents.
If so, she was quickly enlightened during Tuesday’s episode of the Facebook Watch series.
“What were some of the repercussions throughout this whole situation?” asked a skeptical Adrienne Banfield Norris, mom of series host Jada Pinkett Smith. “Because you’re a beautiful young white woman who’s been born into privilege, and there would be some people that would feel like, she’ll be fine. I feel that way.”
Giannulli, 21, who admitted to nerves but said she considered the show a safe and open space, denied that she was seeking sympathy. Her parents, “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are behind bars after pleading guilty to paying a half-million dollars to get Olivia Jade and sister Isabella, 22, into the University of Southern California as crew recruits, though neither were rowers.
“I’m not trying to victimize myself. I don’t want pity. I don’t deserve pity,” Giannulli replied to Norris. “We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up.’ And for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it.
“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,” said the onetime social influencer, who lost deals with prominent brands and left USC in the scandal’s aftermath.
“What’s so important to me is … to learn from the
mistake, not to be shamed and punished and never given a second chance,” said an earnest Giannulli, dressed in a bright pink pantsuit.