Olivia Jade Is 'Still Mad' at Lori Loughlin But 'Terrified' of Testifying Against Her
So, how is Olivia Jade Giannulli doing this week, given her parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli pleaded not guilty in the college admission cheating case Monday and plan to fight the charges in court, where Olivia and her sister Isabella may be called to testify against them? Not great, Entertainment Tonight reports. The publication gave the first real glimpse at Olivia's feelings about the entire thing.
First of all, Olivia still isn't over the fact her parents making her go to USC (a college that Lori and Mossimo paid $500,000 to get her and her sister Isabella into by making it appear they were rowing team recruits) basically ruined her influencer career. "Olivia's still mad at her parents," the source said. But at the same time, she's "terrified at the idea she may have to testify against them."
Olivia and Isabella "didn't realize the extreme" lengths their parents went to get them into USC, ET's source said. They thought that the half a million dollars their parents allegedly "donated" were going to scholarships for students actually on the crew team, ET's source furthered.
Yesterday morning, People reported on how much Lori does not want her daughters to have to testify against her and her husband. Lori and Mossimo face a four year and nine month jail sentence minimum and a 40-year jail sentence maximum for their charges, which include money laundering and conspiring to commit fraud.
“Lori is very concerned about what a trial will do to her daughters,” a legal source told People. “It will undermine every accomplishment they have in the future and it will be part of their story forever.”
Lori is particularly concerned about how the prosecutors will treat Isabella and Olivia Jade. "If it goes to trial, the girls will have to take the stand, and be cross examined by a prosecution that wants nothing more than to put a notch on their belt," People's source said. “Lori is very afraid that her daughters will have to testify. That will traumatize them even more.”
E!, meanwhile, reported yesterday that the case hasn't been handled in the most ideal way, with Lori refusing a plea deal that would have minimized her jail time (but still would included jail time, which Lori objected to). Because she didn't take the deal, she was indicted with a new charge, money laundering, which doubled her maximum jail sentence from 20 years to 40 years. "The whole situation has gone from a big mess to catastrophic," its source said.
But the outlet echoed People: Lori does not want the girls to have to testify. Her instinct is to "protect the girls first and foremost," an insider told the outlet. "They do not want them to have to testify. It would be terrifying and humiliating. They will do what they can to avoid that at all costs."
Lori will do whatever it takes to avoid jail time, a source told E!. "She can't imagine what will happen to them if she goes to jail. She's rolling the dice and thinks that she has a strong defense. She really feels she has no choice but to fight."
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