The Untold Truth Of Olivia Jade Giannulli

Who hasn't dreamed of a charmed life full of designer clothes, glamorous parties, massive mansions, and famous friends? Really, it's The Dream. But, as Olivia Jade Giannulli might be the first to say, be careful what you wish for, as sometimes money and fame aren't all they're cracked up to be. Once known as a YouTuber and the daughter of Hollywood parents, Giannulli became headline news when her parents allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes to get her and her sister into the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. And it wasn't just them. The Justice Department, after completing an investigation that is now known as Operation Varsity Blues, accused fifty people across six states of taking part in a massive college admissions scandal.

Giannulli's parents, actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, plead guilty to multiple fraud charges and were sentenced to prison (via CNN). But what about Olivia Jade? Who is she, really? From before, during, and after the scandal, here's the untold truth of Olivia Jade Giannulli.

Olivia Jade Giannulli was born on September 28, 1999, as noted by Us Weekly. Her mother is Lori Loughlin, an actress who rose to fame for playing Becky in Full House, and her father is Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer best known for the successful Mossimo clothing line that took Target by storm (via The Hollywood Reporter). Olivia Jade also has a younger sister named Isabella Giannulli and a half brother, Gianni Giannulli, from her dad's previous marriage. Sounds like a fairly standard family, right? Wrong. 

According to Yahoo! News, Olivia Jade grew up in a $28 million dollar mansion in Los Angeles. Her bedroom, as shown in a room tour she did on her Youtube page in 2018, had not one but two closets, including one that was a whole wall long. What did she fill those closets with? Designer clothing, including a Louis Vuitton backpack that sells for about $2,400. "I needed it," she said in the video. Oh, she also had a beauty room AND a glam room where professionals come to do her makeup and hair. Not normal at all.

Olivia Jade Giannulli isn't just a socialite or party girl — she also has a YouTube empire. Her YouTube channel, clocking in at just under two million followers, is full of content from makeup tutorials and skincare routines to at-home fashion shows and vlogs of her glamorous life. In her first YouTube video ever, posted on August 13th, 2014, Giannulli says she "puts a lot of hard work into these videos." 

Well, her hard work paid off, as Guannulli makes pretty good money. Giannulli scored serious deals with big companies like Sephora, Amazon, TreSemme, Princess Polly and more, making at least $30,000 per post, as noted by Page Six. Which makes sense, because her most popular video, "My Everyday Makeup" has over two million views. 

Giannulli also draws eyes to her YouTube channel by featuring her famous family, as well as other celebrities from John Stamos to Candace Cameron Bure's daughter, Natasha Bure. Giannulli once tweeted about her success, writing, "YouTube will always be my #1 passion". We don't blame you, girl.

A rosy rich childhood, a successful online career... what more could Olivia Jade Giannulli want? A gorgeous, equally successful boyfriend. According to Us Weekly, Giannulli has been dating singer and musician Jackson Guthy since early 2019. Though they broke up for a bit during the height of the college admission scandal, they've since reconciled and rekindled their romance. 

Perhaps Giannulli and Guthy make a good couple because they both know what it's like to grow up with famous parents; Guthy is the son of makeup maven Victoria Jackson and billionaire marketing mogul Bill Guthy (via Hollywood Life). Or, maybe Giannulli and Guthy work because they're both pursuing creative careers — she in YouTubeing and he in the music industry. Guthy has been making waves in the teen pop world for a number of years, most notably opening for One Direction and Big Time Rush on their 2011 tour (via Seventeen). 

But it doesn't really matter why the couple works, just that they look happy together. "Olivia really loves him," a source told Us Weekly about their relationship. "He's so chill and laid-back that she can't help but be comfortable around him."

Olivia Jade Giannulli isn't just a YouTube mogul. She's also momma to an adorable puppy! Giannulli first introduced Enzo, a delightful German Shepherd, to the world in January 2020 in an Instagram story (via The Blast), saying that she was just fostering him until he found a permanent home. 

The foster experience appears to have gone well for Giannulli. The young star posted more photos, videos, and boomerangs to her Instagram story that depicted her giving sweet baby Enzo a bath, and then snuggling with him by the fire afterward to warm him up again. Downright adorable. She then posted yet another picture with the pup, writing "The morning snuggles make me soooo happy you little monkey" in the caption.

That's why it was no surprise that the fostering quickly turned into adopting. Enzo is officially a Giannulli, as she recently posted an Instagram picture of her cuddling with the not-so-small-anymore pup. "I'm so happy we adopted you," she wrote in the caption. "My little man!!"

It hasn't been all puppies and boyfriends for Olivia Jade Giannulli. She came under fire in 2017 after she got into a car accident — while filming herself driving. As detailed by the Daily Mail, the video (which has since been made private) shows Giannulli recording herself on her phone while driving home from a hair appointment. She's singing along to the radio and taking shots of the road when a truck crashes into her car from behind. Luckily, a police officer was nearby and was able to stop traffic so Giannulli and the other involved driver could exchange information. 

Giannulli's car ended up being towed from the scene. The then-teenager reported she was mostly okay, telling the camera, "My head hurts a little, but I was just more panicked." 

Many fans sent messages of love to the YouTuber after the accident, but others were upset that she was vlogging while driving in the first place. Giannulli then promised never to drive distracted again, writing in the video comments, "I am so lucky that I am okay and that the other people in the crash are okay too."

Maybe it's a good thing that Olivia Jade Giannulli's parents "helped" her get accepted in college, as it seems she has trouble with applications of all kinds. Specifically, trademark applications. Giannulli attempted to trademark her brand "Olivia Jade Beauty" in 2019, but her application was rejected because of poor punctuation and vague language. Ouch. As reported by People, The United States Patent and Trademark Office responded to the YouTuber's application with a letter warning her that "[the] applicant must correct the punctuation in the identification to clarify the individual items in the list of goods." Giannulli's punctuation must have been very bad, because the letter went on to explain the purpose of punctuation like commas, semicolons, and apostrophes. What were they teaching her in that fancy Los Angeles school?!

Giannulli's application was also rejected because the "identification of goods" she was hoping to trademark was too vague and broad. For instance, the Patent and Trademark Office suggested she add more specific terminology like "skin moisturizer, facial concealer and makeup setting spray" as she listed simply "makeup kits, moisturizer and concealer".

While many would say that Olivia Jade Giannulli might have benefited from a college education, she apparently didn't seem to think so. In a since-deleted Q&A YouTube video she posted in August of 2018 (via Hollywood Life), the young star said she wasn't sure how much school she was actually going to attend and that she was worried about "balanc[ing] it all" — perhaps referring to her schoolwork and her busy YouTube schedule. However, in the same video, Giannulli went on to make it clear where her priorities truly lay. "I do want the experience of like game days, partying," she continued. "I don't really care about school, as you guys all know."

Giannulli did post another since-deleted video a few days later in which she tried to walk back her comments. "I know it's a privilege and a blessing [to go college] and I'm really grateful," she proclaimed. She also tweeted in February of 2019 that though she prefers YouTube, "an education is also super important" and she is working on her time management skills.

Going to college isn't cheap. From the books and living essentials to tuition itself, most college students fork over a lot of cash for the pleasure of a higher education. But not Olivia Jade Giannulli. Despite definitely having the money to buy the very best for her University of Southern California experience, the YouTube star appears to have snagged a decked-out dorm room courtesy of Amazon Prime — and it looks like all she had to do was promote the company. "I found pretty much everything for my dorm on Amazon's college store," she explained in an interview with Teen Vogue in 2018. 

Giannulli went on to push Prime Student pretty hard, toting the platform as a "no brainer" with "exclusive deals and discounts on textbooks for class" that offers a free six-month trial. Giannulli also advertised for Amazon on Instagram in since-deleted ad posts (via The Wall Street Journal). What did she appear to get for her hard sells? A "minimalistic and clean" space covered in trendy decor like plush blankets, a marble tapestry, and clear plastic storage bins.

How did Olivia Jade Giannulli get into the University of Southern California in the first place? She allegedly lied on her application. According to documents obtained by The Blast, Giannulli seems to have submitted a falsified high school resume with her USC application that includes a fake rowing career. According to the allegedly fake CV, Olivia Jade was a coxswain (we don't know what that is, either) and won two gold medals, one bronze medal, and placed high at several prestigious competitions. It even claims she led "both men's and women's boats" with skill in "awareness, organization, direction and steering."

Giannulli apparently backed up the resume with doctored photos. The Mercury News released the images that show the young woman posed on a rowing machine, allegedly at the request of college admissions consultant William Singer so that he could further boost her image as a crew rower, even though she never rowed crew at her high school.

Apparently Olivia Jade Giannulli's made-up rowing career wasn't enough to secure her spot at the University of Southern California. Her parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, also allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes to get their YouTube-star offspring into the elite school. Along with the fake resume, The Blast also obtained copies of two checks made out to "USC Women's Athletics" with the purpose listed as "Galen Center Film Room." 

However, the famous couple fought the allegations, claiming that the payments were donations and not bribes. Rich families donating big money to schools isn't unheard of but, in correspondence documented by The New York Times, the prosecutors in the case argued that the checks "were bribes" because "the corrupt insiders were soliciting the money in exchange for recruiting unqualified students, in violation of their duty of honest services to their employer." The prosecutors went on to argue that even without the alleged "bribes," Loughlin and Giannulli knew that they were falsely presenting Olivia Jade as an athlete and were therefore engaged in illegal activity.

Olivia Jade Giannulli's charmed life hasn't been so charmed since her parents were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in the college admissions scandal. Not only has the young star come under fire from the media for lying about her extracurriculars, but she's also lost many of her brand partnerships. Big companies like Lulus, Amazon, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Smile Direct Club, and Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics have all cut ties with Giannulli, as reported by Variety. 

But perhaps Giannulli's biggest loss was her partnership with Sephora. The cosmetics giant was one of Giannulli's longest partnerships, but in March of 2019 it announced that "After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately" (via CNN). The Olivia Jade Sephora Bronze & Illuminate Palette was removed from the Sephora website shortly after news broke, while fans cried for the brand to cut ties with the disgraced starlet with social media comments like, "please be rid of Olivia Jade" and "don't embarrass yourself Sephora" (via Narcity).

At least Olivia Jade Giannulli still has her beloved boyfriend to comfort her amidst the drama of the college admission scandal. According to a source that spoke to Us Weekly, Giannulli has been staying with Jackson Guthy at his Malibu home after losing her parents to police custody. A second inside source told the publication that Giannulli was "very upset" with her parents for their involvement in the alleged crimes, and that she "feels she is the victim" as she never wanted to go to college in the first place; she wanted to focus on her beauty career.

The same source revealed that the disgraced YouTuber "is completely in hiding right now" and is "posting private stories on her Instagram" to stay in touch with "her close circle". But that doesn't appear to be completely true, unless a party with several other YouTube stars counts as being "in hiding." Page Six reported on footage taken from YouTuber David Dobrik's Instagram story that shows Giannulli laughing and talking with a large group of people in Dobrik's home. Looks like Giannulli is feeling better!

Despite all her parents' hard (and allegedly illegal) work to get her into college, Olivia Jade Giannulli will not be returning to the University of Southern California. An inside source spoke to Entertainment Tonight in the summer of 2019, revealing that Giannulli "has no plans to return to USC." The source went on to explain the decision, claiming that "[Giannulli] never wanted to attend USC to begin with, and now she is sure that USC isn't the place for her." Bella Giannulli, Lori Loughlin's other daughter, will return to USC and continue her sorority membership. 

But what will Olivia Jade do instead? She plans to focus on rebuilding her beauty business and brand as per her fashion designer father's advice. The inside source claims that he "has been encouraging Olivia to create a new brand, either makeup or beauty related." Apparently there's still some "resentment" between Olivia Jade and her mom, despite the family going to therapy and working towards forgiveness.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, Olivia Jade Giannulli's parents, plead guilty to the charges that they illegally conspired to get their daughters into the University of Southern California. As a result, both were sentenced to prison time: Louglin two months and Giannulli five months, as noted by The New York Times. But what about Olivia Jade?

The YouTube star, who'd been mostly silent since the scandal first broke, went on Red Table Talk on December 8th, 2020. The hosts of the Facebook show, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith and Andrienne Bandfied-Norris (Jada's mother), didn't hold back in their questions, either. Bandfield-Norris even made it clear that she didn't want Olivia Jade on the show, claiming, "It's not our responsibility to raise her consciousness." 

Despite the tension, Olivia Jade did reveal several painful truths about the scandal, including that she hasn't spoken to her parents since they began their prison sentences. She also apologized publicly for the scandal, saying," I think what was important was for me to come here and say, 'I'm sorry. I acknowledge what was wrong.'"