UPDATED: Olivia Jade Giannulli, daughter of actress Lori Loughlin, is a YouTube beauty vlogger and social-media star with millions of followers.
She’s also (for now) a freshman at the University of Southern California. But in the wake of her mother being implicated as part of a broad college-admissions bribery scam — alleging that Loughlin illegally schemed to get the 19-year-old enrolled at the university — Olivia Jade is likely going to lose the lucrative brand-sponsorship deals she’s landed over the years.
HP had worked with Olivia Jade and Loughlin for a campaign promoting HP’s Sprocket photo printer, but the company said it does not have any business deals with them at this point. In a statement, the company said, “HP worked with Lori Loughlin and Olivia Jade in 2017 for a one-time product campaign. HP does not currently have a relationship with either of them.”
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Sephora said on Thursday it has dropped its business deal with the influencer. “After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately,” the cosmetics retailer said in a statement.
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In addition, online fashion retailer Lulus also said Thursday it has no plans to work with Olivia Jade again. “Lulus has not worked with Olivia Jade since August 2018 and we have no plans to do so in the future,” Colleen Winter, co-founder and CEO of Lulus, said in a statement.
Olivia Jade had also cut brand deals with partners including Amazon, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics, Smile Direct Club, Too Faced Cosmetics, Boohoo, and Unilever’s TRESemmé.
A rep for Olivia Jade declined to comment, as did Estée Lauder Companies, which owns Smashbox and Too Faced. The other brands and companies Variety reached out to did not respond to requests for comment.
“It wouldn’t come as a complete surprise if the brands currently working with Ms. Giannulli took a closer look at the status of their relationship with her and possibly reconsidered next steps for engagement,” said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO of social-media marketing firm Socialbakers. “Brands should always do their proper due diligence on the content and news associated with influencers that they would engage with and are engaging with over time.”
Loughlin, best known for her role on “Full House” (and Netflix’s “Fuller House” revival), on Wednesday turned herself in to the FBI in advance of a court hearing. The actress and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly paid $500,000 to have their two daughters — Olivia Jade and her older sister, Isabella Rose — designated as recruits for USC’s crew team. Prosecutors said those claims were false as neither of the Gianulli sisters is a member of the university’s rowing team. Mossimo Giannulli was released on $1 million bond Tuesday.
Some 50 people so far have been named as participating in the scam, which law enforcement officials dubbed “Operation Varsity Blues.” Those include “Desperate Housewives” actress Felicity Huffman and TPG Growth founder Bill McGlashan.
The status of Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose at USC going forward is unclear. In a statement Tuesday, USC said it fired two of the employees named in the scandal and said it is cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation. The university did not address the status of the Giannulli sisters or other students.
“USC is in the process of identifying any funds received by the university in connection with this alleged scheme,” its statement said in part. “Additionally, the university is reviewing its admissions processes broadly to ensure that such actions do not occur going forward.”
Currently, Olivia Jade has 1.9 million subscribers to her YouTube channel and 1.3 million Instagram followers.
“I don’t know how much of school I’m going to attend,” she said in a YouTube video posted on Aug. 14, 2018, the day she started at USC. “But I do want the experience of game days, partying. I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.” Two days later, she posted a video in which she apologized for the comments.