The new ‘Gossip Girl’ name-checked Olivia Jade’s notoriety. And she’s not having it
Hey, Upper East Siders. Gossip Girl here.
This just in: Olivia Jade Giannulli fired back Sunday after a scene in HBO Max’s new “Gossip Girl” reboot referenced the disgraced influencer and her mother, Lori Loughlin, who was convicted of bribing the University of Southern California to accept her daughter as part of a college admissions scandal.
In the pilot episode of the TV series’ revival about a new generation of privileged teens attending a private high school in New York City, three characters debate the reputation-altering effects of finding oneself at the center of a “social media nightmare.”
While one of the students deems falling prey to damaging rumors a lose-lose situation that’s “bad for business,” another counters that “Olivia Jade gained followers when her mom went to jail.”
The problem with “Gossip Girl,” premiering Thursday on HBO Max, isn’t that it’s “woke.” It’s that it’s lost the original’s sense of humor.
Within days of the series’ premiere, Giannulli, 21, took to TikTok to set the record straight about her hefty social media following by posting a video of herself shaking her head at the name-check and saying, “No, I didn’t.”
Much like the young protagonists of “Gossip Girl,” Giannulli became a poster child of privilege after her mother, “Full House” actor Loughlin, and father, fashion designer Mossimo Giannuli, were incarcerated for paying $500,000 to get their daughters into USC.
Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli — two of the most prominent parents who employed mastermind William “Rick” Singer to cheat the college admissions system — were sentenced to two months and five months, respectively, in federal prison. (By April of this year, both had returned home after completing their sentences.)
Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton ordered both Loughlin and Giannulli to report to prison by Nov. 19.
On a recent and controversial installment of the Facebook Watch chat show “Red Table Talk,” Olivia Jade Giannulli spoke with hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norris and Willow Smith about the college admissions scandal, which lost the rising social media star her spot at USC, as well as multiple high-profile brand deals.
“I’m not trying to victimize myself,” she said. “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,” she continued. “I never got to say, ‘I’m really sorry 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.”
Olivia Jade Giannulli, daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, breaks her silence on the admissions scandal that landed her parents in prison.
Some — including Gammy — viewed Giannulli’s “Red Table Talk” appearance as an extension of her immense privilege, which emboldened her to request a seat at the table of three distinguished Black women to kickstart her redemption campaign.
Giannulli has since resumed her video-blogging and social media activities, documenting a lavish lifestyle that would make even the trendy haves of “Gossip Girl” envious.
HBO Max did not immediately respond Monday to The Times’ request for comment. Until then: Xoxo, Gossip Girl.
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