In Olivia Jade Giannulli's first interview since news of her family's notoriously controversial college bribery scandal broke last year, she sat down with Jada Pinkett Smith on Tuesday's episode of Red Table Talk, to tell her story. Both of her parents, Lori Loughlin and Massimo Giannulli, are currently serving time in prison after pleading guilty back in May. Loughlin admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and Massimo pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of honest services wire and mail fraud. Olivia has not had any contact with her parents since they've been in prison.
Olivia began by explaining that while she's sad that her parents are in jail, she knows it's necessary in order to move past this chapter of their lives. "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 said. "I think what’s so important to me is to learn from the mistake. Not to now be shamed and punished and never given a second chance. Because I’m 21, I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself."
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She went on to reveal that she has not returned to university since news of her illegitimate college acceptance surfaced. "I remember just freezing and feeling so ashamed. I went home and hid myself for probably like three or four months," she explained. "I never went back. I was too embarrassed. I shouldn’t have been there in the first place clearly. So there was no point in me trying to go back.”
Jada was quick to call Olivia out on her white privilege, assuring her that this will all blow over for her eventually because of the color of her skin. "Exactly," Olivia quipped. "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’ 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.'"
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She admittedly recalled initially not feeling very remorseful of her parents actions. "When all 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?’ Like, I know that sounds so silly, but, in the bubble that I grew up in, I didn’t know so much outside of it," she said. "That’s privilege. I didn’t put those two together."
Watch the full interview below.
