First Olivia Jade Giannulli‘s mom Lori Loughlin, 56, went away to Dublin, CA on Oct. 30 to start her two month prison sentence in connection with the college admissions bribery scandal. Then the 21-year-old’s designer dad, Mossimo Giannulli, 57, reported to a federal prison in Lompoc, CA to start his five month sentence on Nov. 19. Olivia is now relying on her network of friends to be there while both of her parents are behind bars, and she has found a “compassionate” pal in supermodel Kendall Jenner, 25.
“Olivia has been close with Kendall and Kylie (Jenner), and their group of friends for a while now. But Kendall has really stepped up for Olivia and been there for her while her parents are away. Kendall has such a sweet nature about her and she’s so compassionate, she wants to support Olivia in any way she can,” a KarJenner source tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY.
“It’s not so much that they’ve welcomed Olivia into their circle because she’s been a good friend to them and they’ve hung out on numerous occasions, but situations like this can definitely strengthen that bond among friends and bring people closer. Kendall has been available for Olivia to listen anytime and let her know she’s not alone and has a support system around her,” our insider continues.
Olivia has Kendall’s mom Kris Jenner, 65, to thank for the model’s support for the former YouTube star. “Kris has always emphasized the importance of family and keeping a tight bond among her kids. She can’t begin to imagine what these girls are going through and would hope someone would do the same for her girls if the roles were reversed,” our source adds.
Olivia has faced her toughest week yet personally after appearing on Jada Pinkett Smith‘s Red Table Talk on Dec. 8. Before she came out, Jada’s mom Adrienne Banfield-Norris, 67, said of Olivia, “I just found it really ironic that she chose three black women to reach out to for her redemption story. I feel like here we are, white women coming to black women for support when we don’t get the same from them. It’s just bothersome to me on so many levels. Her being here is the epitome of privilege to me.”
Olivia admitted, she “wasn’t angry” at her parents initially after their arrests because she “didn’t see the wrong” with them allegedly paying out $500K towards bribes that went to secure her admission to U.S.C. as a crew recruit. “I was like, ‘Why is everybody complaining?'” she said, and shared “That’s embarrassing within itself, that I walked around my whole 20 years of life not realizing, ‘You have insane privilege. You’re like the poster child of white privilege. You had no idea.'”
Olivia then called the situation “messed up,” saying “What happened was wrong and I think that every single person in my family can be like, ‘that was messed up, that was a big mistake.’ But I think what’s so important to me is to learn from the mistake, not to now be shamed and punished and not given a second chance. Because I’m 21, I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show I’ve grown.” Her semi-mea culpa didn’t go over so well, as the ladies on The View called out Olivia the following day on Dec. 9 for her inability to properly recognize her white privilege, with Ana Navarro calling the YouTuber an “entitled brat.”
