Olivia Jade Giannulli could face expulsion from the University of Southern California (USC) following news that her parents, “Full House” alum Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are allegedly ensnared in a bombshell college admissions scandal that involved wealthy families paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure a place for their children at prestigious universities across the country.
In a statement to Fox News on Thursday, a spokesperson for USC said school officials plan to “conduct a case-by-case review for current students and graduates that may be connected to the scheme alleged by the government.”
“We will make informed, appropriate decisions once those reviews have been completed,” the spokesperson said, noting some of the students under review “may have been minors at the time of their application process.”
Olivia's parents are accused of agreeing to pay $500,000 in bribes to have their two daughters designated as recruits for the USC crew team despite the fact that neither participated in the sport.
The 19-year-old USC freshman is a famous YouTube star who goes by "Olivia Jade" on the video sharing platform as well as Instagram and Twitter, where she boasts more than 1 million and nearly 200,000 followers, respectively.
A spokesperson for USC confirmed to Fox News Thursday night that Loughlin and Giannulli’s other daughter, Isabella, 20, is currently enrolled at the university.
A video Olivia posted to her YouTube channel in August of 2018 has resurfaced as a result of the scandal, as the teen said at the time that she doesn’t “really care about school.”
“I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend,” she previously told her nearly 2 million subscribers in the video, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. “But I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying… I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”
Days later, she released a follow-up video apologizing for her remarks.
“I said something super ignorant and stupid, basically,” Olivia admitted in the video. “And it totally came across that I’m ungrateful for college — I’m going to a really nice school. And it just kind of made it seem like I don’t care, I just want to brush it off. I’m just gonna be successful at YouTube and not have to worry about school. I’m really disappointed in myself.”
“A lot of people like to attack me for the way I’ve grown up because it’s really different from a lot of people,” she added.
Olivia has not been charged with a crime as a result of the scandal, nor have any of the other children whose parents were charged Tuesday. She was reportedly with friends on a USC official's yacht in the Bahamas when she became aware of the scandal.
In addition to the resurfacing of her video, the teen has been facing backlash in other areas. It appears Olivia has disabled the comments section on her Instagram profile due to hateful remarks, while Variety reports she could possibly lose brand deals as a result of the scheme.
The social media star has partnerships with Amazon, Dolce & Gabbana, Lulus, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Sephora, and Smashbox Beauty Cosmetic, among other big name brands, according to Variety. Already, HP has cut ties with Olivia, telling the publication in a statement that it has “removed the content from its properties” regarding its one-time product campaign with both Olivia and her mother, who was released on a $1 million bond Wednesday following her arrest.
Sephora, too, is facing pressure to drop its partnership with her but has not yet said whether or not it plans to do so.
Olivia is both a collaborator and paid influencer with the makeup giant, releasing an eponymous bronzing powder palette with the superstore in December 2018, according to InStyle.
The USC spokesperson also told Fox News that applicants in the university’s current admission cycle “who are connected to the scheme alleged by the government will be denied admission to USC.” There are six students in the current admission cycle who are allegedly connected to the scheme, USC confirmed.
“USC is still working to identify any donations potentially connected to the scheme, but there was $1.3 million noted in the indictment,” the spokesperson added.
USC, in a separate statement following the initial news of the scandal, said it is "aware of the ongoing wide-ranging criminal investigation involving universities nationwide, including USC." School officials in the statement added the university has "not been accused of any wrongdoing" and noted it "will continue to cooperate fully with the government’s investigation."
"We understand that the government believes that illegal activity was carried out by individuals who went to great lengths to conceal their actions from the university. USC is conducting an internal investigation," the school continued, announcing both Donna Heinel and Jovan Vavic — the school's senior associate athletic director and water polo coach, respectively — had been terminated as a result of their alleged involvement in the scheme.
The school emphasized it would take any additional "employment actions" that it deems appropriate.
"USC is in the process of identifying any funds received by the university in connection with this alleged scheme. Additionally, the university is reviewing its admissions processes broadly to ensure that such actions do not occur going forward," USC added.
Fox News’ Sasha Savitsky, Mariah Haas and Janine Puhak contributed to this report.
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