Actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli have been in the public eye for many years now, though their reputation has changed dramatically. From sitcoms and Target branding deals to the college admission bribery scandal, fans are more curious than ever about Loughlin and Giannulli. Here’s a rundown of everything we know about their relationship through the years.
Loughlin and Giannulli were two of the biggest names on the arrest list in the 2019 college admission bribery scandal known as “Operation Varsity Blues.” In March of that year, they were arrested along with at least 51 other people in a case that the FBI had been building for years. If Loughlin’s recognizability from TV shows like Full House hadn’t been enough to put them in the spotlight, the couple also stood out because they were some of the only defendants to plead not guilty — at least at first.
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Loughlin is best known for her role as Aunt Becky from Full House and, more recently, Fuller House on Netflix. The actress has taken on a number of other roles, some of which are iconic and unforgettable. Meanwhile, Giannulli is a fashion designer known for building what would become a signature brand for Target stores everywhere.
In the midst of all this success, Loughlin and Giannulli had two daughters and sent them both to the University of Southern California on suspicious scholarships. The parents switched their pleas to guilty and served some time in prison at the end of 2020. Loughlin and Giannulli are two of the 33 parents accused of hiring William Singer, a college admission consultant, to pay bribes to school officials to get their kids in.
According to federal prosecutors, Loughlin and Giannulli paid half a million dollars — one of the biggest single sums in the case — to get their daughters admitted into the university as rowing team members. Neither of their daughters participated in the sport once they were at the school.
The case was emotional, as some sympathize with Loughlin, in a way, for doing everything in her power to help out her kids. Others are horrified by the idea of such an egregious misuse of power and influence at the expense of other students. Here is a look at the parents behind the alleged scandal.
Eloping
Loughlin and Giannulli eloped in the November of 1997. As Loughlin explained to Entertainment Tonight in a 2018 interview, it was just two days before Thanksgiving, and they decided to give their friends and family a surprise.
“We had Moss’ best friend and a minister meet us, and we got married at sunrise and then we went to Thanksgiving dinner and we told everybody,” she said. “We had talked about doing a wedding and we just thought, ‘Let’s get up and let’s go do it.’”
Loughlin had previously been married to Michael Burns from 1989 to 1996.
Bella
Less than a year later, the couple welcomed their first child. Bella Giannulli was born on Sept. 16, 1998. The couple’s elder daughter was the first to go off to the University of Southern California — on the strength of her parents’ bribe, they later admitted.
Olivia Jade
A year after that, Loughlin and Giannulli completed their family with their youngest daughter, Olivia Jade Giannuli. She was born on Sept. 28, 1999. Olivia Jade has gotten much more attention than her sister in the case, primarily because she operated a successful YouTube page as a fashion and make-up expert.
Mossimo and Target
While they raised their family, life was good to Loughlin and Giannulli. Giannulli’s company, Mossimo, had been founded in 1986. In 1996, he went public with an initial public offering, but soon found himself adapting to a changing market.
Mossimo partnered with Target in 2000. Giannulli signed a major multi-product licencing agreement to the tune of $27.8 million. In 2006, the company was acquired by Iconix Brand Group. Mossimo products still line the shelves in Target stores today.
Loughlin’s Ongoing TV Work
Meanwhile, Loughlin’s TV success continued well after Full House ended in 1995. The actress went on to appear in many shows, TV movies and a few larger feature films. She had longer runs on shows like Summerland, 90210 and In Case of Emergency.
In the years before the college admission bribery scandal, Loughlin began working more regularly with the Hallmark Channel. The actress appeared in 17 Hallmark TV movies as well as the TV series When Calls the Heart. At the same time, she reprised her role as Aunt Becky when Netflix rebooted Full House in 2016.
In the wake of the scandal, Loughlin was fired from Fuller House and Lifetime has ceased production on her projects.
Married Life
In terms of their personal life, Loughlin and Giannulli have always seemed to be deeply in love. In her Entertainment Tonight interview, Loughlin gushed about her husband, showing that they were still going strong more than 20 years later.
“He’s my guy, he’s my person,” she said. “It’s communicating, it’s listening, it’s picking and choosing your battles. It’s being flexible, it’s all of that.”
Arrest
Giannulli was arrested on March 12, 2019 at the same time as dozens of other wealthy parents around the country. Federal agents found Giannulli at home and he did not put up a struggle as they took him into custody.
Meanwhile, Loughlin was in Canada filming a project for the Hallmark Channel. She flew home upon hearing about the arrest, deleting all of her social media profiles along the way. Back in Los Angeles, she surrendered to federal authorities along with the other suspects.
Initial Plea
Loughlin and Giannulli were offered a favorable plea deal that could have gotten them as little two years in prison if they accept, according to a report by TMZ at the time. However, as the proceedings got underway a new charge against Loughlin was added for money laundering. This could have drastically increased her sentence to as much as 20 years in prison.
Loughlin and Giannulli both stopped speaking to the press after their arrests. They both pleaded not guilty to all charges at first. Almost immediately, they lost some of their biggest business connections including Loughlin’s work with the Hallmark Channel and an advertising deal with Hewlett-Packard.
Fallout
In addition to losing her TV roles, Loughlin and Olivia Jade were fired from an advertising campaign with Hewlett-Packard. Loughlin and Giannulli were also widely condemned for pleading not guilty, as many pundits seemed not to believe them. The case became a national lighting rod for topics like income inequality and systemic privilege.
The couple’s daughters were also mocked and condemned, and Olivia Jade took a long hiatus from social media. However, both girls were allowed to remain enrolled in USC. According to a report by CNBC, a university spokesperson said that an investigation of their culpability in the scandal was conducted, and apparently they were cleared of wrongdoing.
Change of Heart
Loughlin switched her plea from not guilty to guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud on May 22, 2020. Giannulli then withdrew his not guilty pleas and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and honest services wire and mail fraud. On August 21, 2020, both received their sentences. Loughlin served two months in prison at FCI Dublin in Northern California, from Oct. 30 to Dec. 28. Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison, but served time from Nov. 19 to April 2, 2021. At that point, he finished his sentence in home confinement.
The couple also paid hefty fines for their crimes, and Giannulli remains on supervised release until April of 2023. Both had the specifications of their prison sentences altered slightly due to the COVID-19 pandemic — spending more time in isolation and with less availability of visitation hours.
Aftermath
Loughlin and Giannulli seem to be going strong in their personal lives since their release from prison. The two took a highly publicized trip to Mexico in June after their release, where they seemed to be enjoying each other’s company. Olivia Jade has also spoken out in their defense, claiming that the public didn’t really understand the scandal.
Return to Work
There’s no sign of Giannulli returning to work in the public eye, but Loughlin was back on screen last year. The actress joined the cast of the drama series When Hope Calls — a spinoff of her old show When Calls the Heart. She appeared in the two-part season premiere on Dec. 18, and is expected to be in more episodes going forward.
Meanwhile, Olivia Jade’s return to the spotlight was even bigger. She competed in Dancing With the Stars in the fall of 2021 where she spoke openly about the scandal, even cracking jokes about it. Still, viewers were split on whether or not she was being too flippant.
