We will probably never be able to calculate the number of victims of this college admissions scam.
Every single time a rich parent uses their money to illegally secure a spot for their child at a university, that’s another student who actually earned their way on — and is getting rejected because there’s one less spot.
But one of the most controversial questions: are the kids themselves victims?
The ones whose parents are accused of paying officials to change their standardized tests and pretend they’re student athletes?
Related: Lori Loughlin’s Daughters Withdraw From School So They Won’t Be ‘Viciously Bullied’
Up until now they’ve certainly been beneficiaries of crimes, but that’s not the same thing as being accessories…
Unless they did know about the scam, that is.
https://giphy.com/gifs/drama-boy-meets-world-dramatic-4M9rKw4SYB14I
Some teens obviously didn’t know — like the kid whose mother talked about what an idiot he was in recorded phone calls. Those whose SAT answers were altered after they turned them in could very well have had no idea that ever happened; indeed among the evidence is one of the scammers telling a parent their teen will see their great test score and feel good about themselves.
At least one has come forward to claim his ignorance.
But so far the two most prominent kids involved have kept quiet. So we have to wonder… did Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli‘s daughters know??
Isabella Rose Giannulli and Olivia Jade Giannulli have already built up a bit of fame of their own thanks to some acting jobs and a social media presence. Olivia Jade was approaching 2 MILLION subscribers to her YouTube channel when all this broke.
They both posted nonstop on Instagram — until the scandal broke. Now they’re radio silent.
You’d think if they didn’t know about the alleged scam they’d be defending themselves, explaining their side.
Wouldn’t you?
Or maybe they had no idea and they’re just trying to protect their famous parents? Maybe they’re just too ashamed to show their faces at the moment?
But is it even possible they wouldn’t know??
Let’s look at the evidence.
Unlike the kids whose test scores were improved behind their backs, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose were given “conditional admission” to USC based on their athletic contributions to the crew team.
But it’s explicitly stated in phone calls in the affidavit that neither girl rows crew.
We mean, they obviously are aware they don’t actually row. You’d remember if you did, it’s, like, REALLY hard.
So when they got their acceptance letters telling them about the conditions of their admission to the school, did they NOT NOTICE the part about joining the crew team?
We suppose it’s possible they didn’t even read their own acceptance letters.
We know from their own words they barely went to classes. And apparently Olivia Jade didn’t even fill out her own application!
But there’s one detail that isn’t quite working for us…
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According to the affidavit Lori and Mossimo were asked to send an “action picture” of Olivia Jade doing a workout on the rowing machine along with her transcripts and test scores.
Per the legal document, four days later, Lori wrote back:
“Moss will get this done. We are back in town on Monday.”
Then EIGHT DAYS after that they send the photo of the teen on an ergometer.
https://giphy.com/gifs/rowing-BUAuaC40GJgLC
(That’s not her! LOLz!)
So we’re to believe, if Olivia isn’t in on this scam, her parents waited until she was working out and went in and snapped a photo of her on the rower? And she wasn’t like WTF??
Remember, Olivia is a very active vlogger on YouTube.
We found a video from around that time where she describes her workout routine in detail — and it does not include the ergometer.
There isn’t a single photo of an ergometer on her Instagram that entire year.
So if she doesn’t regularly use the machine, we’re now forced to assume her parents tricked her into rowing one day just so they could get a snap. And she still didn’t catch on?
Now this is starting to sound like some sort of farcical sitcom plot.
The other possibility, of course, is they simply explained the scheme to her, and she posed for the pic.
Much simpler, dontcha think?
So with all that in mind, what’s the verdict?
Did Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose not just benefit from the scam but KNOW ALL ABOUT IT??
What do YOU think, Perezcious voters?
[Image via FayesVision/WENN.]