There’s only one good Kourtney Kardashian GIF/meme and that’s “There’s people that are dying, Kim.” Kourtney said that to Kim as Kim was hysterically ugly-crying about her lost diamond earring. I feel like screaming that at Lori Loughlin: there’s people that are dying and you’re still simpering and acting holier-than-thou to People Magazine??? Lori really is still running to People to tell “her side” of things via “sources.” Lori and Mossimo’s trial will likely still happen this fall, and they’ve spent months trying to convince People Mag’s readership that they were duped into lying and committing fraud to get their daughters into USC. That’s their argument: they were patsies, like Lee Harvey Oswald only it was lying about their idiot daughters being on crew. Lori’s current argument is that Rick Singer lied to her and that, like, the FBI basically entrapped her. I guess the FBI somehow made Olivia Jade pose on a rowing machine to “prove” that she was part of the crew team:
The rowing photos Lori Loughlin used to 'try and get daughters Olivia and Isabella into USC' https://t.co/iYUB1946sS
— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) April 10, 2020
Yeah. Those photos came out last week. Those were the posed photos which Lori and Mossimo submitted as part as Olivia Jade’s college application to prove that yes, Olivia was a sh-tty student but hey, at least she was a star athlete? Except Olivia Jade was never. The photos have been all over the place this week, so of course Lori ran to People to pish-posh how bad the photos are for her defense
Last week, federal prosecutors released the rowing photos they claim Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli supplied to get their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose, into the University of Southern California. The photos of the girls on a rowing machine sparked a social media sensation as the photos were shared around the world. But the family was unsurprised that the photos became public, a source close to Loughlin tells PEOPLE.
“They have known that the photos would eventually be released, because they are part of the discovery,” the source says. “They were prepared that they would be released, they just didn’t know when. It didn’t come as surprise.”
Loughlin and Giannulli maintain that they were simply doing the bidding of Rick Singer, the man at the center of the scandal and the founder and CEO of the company The Key: a Private Life Coaching and Counseling Company.
“As damning as it looks, keep in mind that they were following Rick Singer’s instructions, and he was having them do a lot of things that they didn’t understand,” the source maintains.
Again, I’m not a lawyer, but ignorance is not a legal defense. Lori can maintain that Rick Singer was “instructing” her to do tons of things but she had NO IDEA those things were illegal, and it’s still not a defense. “But we didn’t understand the crimes we were doing!” Do you know how many times people use that defense and get found guilty? But hey, I’m sure a lot of People Magazine readers believe Aunt Becky.
Meanwhile, E! claims that Olivia Jade has felt “extremely embarrassed” now that the photos are out and she is “fully aware [that] this predicament is ongoing and she will have waves of sadness and anger.” Whatever, the little a–hole has been back on social media for months.
Photos courtesy of WENN and Avalon Red.
You shouldn’t cheat. Period. I’m not sorry for everything their family is going through. They brought this on themselves.
Choices!
LOL! I’m sorry but those photos made my stressful week. Lori and her ridiculous family CAUGHT in the act. Also, I gotta wonder — why rowing? Was rowing THE sport that would convince school officials that her two daughters were brilliant athletes, considering they never showed an ounce of interest in either academia or sport — if we go by what’s plastered all over their social media channels? Rowing is not easy and the photo is disrespectful to those who actually do row. But hey, I’m enjoying this drama — let’s see what other lies they can come up with.
For the most part, it feels like they chose sports that were less common or which would draw as much attention. For example, no one involved in the scam was “recruited” as a member of the football team. Would have drawn too much attention. I think that they also targeted sports that had more open spots. The amount of athletes competing for a spot on USC’s football team is in the thousands, but for a less popular sport not so much. That does not mean that more deserving athletes were not wrongfully rejected of a scholarship offer because of this scam, just providing some context.
Because the rowing coach was bribable, and the softball one wasn’t. They took advantage of the fact that there’s little oversight for minor sports that are there basically for Title X compliance.
If I remember the original story correctly, Olivia and her sister were pitched as coxswain (person in the front of the boat that says ‘Stroke!’). So in theory you didn’t need to be a great athlete to participate in that position and make it easier to fake.
That’s what I remember too. That is not a really competitive position imo. At my college granted nearly three decades ago they had to beg for walk ons in the student paper to get people for the cox position.
Rowing isn’t at a lot of high schools, but it is at a bunch of colleges like USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, the Ivys, etc. It’s too expensive and particular a sport to have at most high schools, so colleges routinely can recruit much and have vacancies in rowing.
When I got to UCLA 35 years ago (!), I knew another freshman woman who had never rowed before. She tried out and got on the team because she wanted to get fit, and she ended up doing it for most of undergrad. She had to be up at 4:30 am to be on the bus at 5 to get to the marina by 6 so that she could get to 9 am classes, or she had to be at the gym when her team worked out. It was a massive commitment, but she was academically qualified to go to the school, someone who was accustomed to planning and working hard. That’s usually how colleges fill rowing teams if they don’t have enough kids who rowed in high school.
Through my friend, I learned that rowing at colleges is a more traditional sport that is filled by regular people looking for something to do to develop them as people. It teaches commitment, fitness, and puts students out in the sunshine. Teams want to win, but all you need to be on a rowing team is to be strong, and that means showing up for work outs and practice. No special skills needed.
I mean, if I were to go around and hit someone with my car, then say “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that!” it doesn’t matter. Those photos were a real gem to have released to really sway the public on this one. It’s obvious that she purposely staged it knowing they didn’t qualify. The girls weren’t even using the equipment properly.
She is the most basic of Becky’s, my god.
Furthermore it’s unconvincing because neither of them have the muscle tone of an athlete. *not body shaming* because obviously there’s nothing wrong with their bodies.
And the kids who do this sport need to be OBSESSIVE about fitness. I’m honestly surprised they didn’t put her in a muscle suit like Arrested Development lol.
they were pitched as coxswain, they don’t row. they’re very deliberately as small as possible
I was a collegiate rower – coxes do typically row, not as well, but they need to know what they are saying. Ours worked out with the team, too. You want your cox to be small, but it’s not like wrestling where they starve to make a weight. I was in a lightweight boat and our cox weighed the same we did – what matters is their skill.
But a split second glance at the pictures tells me this girl does not know how to row and has zero coaching. They didn’t even try to pose anything convince. Her legs should be flat with her arms that pulled in, her elbows are way too high, she’s pulling to her chest where you usually hit more at bellybutton height, she’s not laying back at all. It’s such a scam.
Here’s a simple question. USC is a top-notch school ( you have to live in a box, not to know this). The daughters from what I can tell were not top-notch academically. No record of public academic achievement ( Letters, honor roll, awards etc) Yet, the parents claimed they were duped. Even the parent who never went to college always know that kids need “good grades” and they need to get them in high school.
They need to take a plea. The environment in the fall will be incredibly hostile to this kinda of privilege.
In what planet could she ever say that she believed that the money she was giving were “legitimate donations”. If they were legitimate, why would your daughter need to pose on a damn rowing machine? At the minimum, as a parent that should have struck you as both creepy and strange if you actually believed these donations were legitimate.
I have a funny feeling she’s going to get off but I hope they bankrupt themselves in the process.
I’m all for this family receiving justice, but why isn’t the school also held accountable for taking the bribe? They could have said no, then reported it.
The school didn’t know. It was done with a sports coach that works for the university.
It’s amazing to me that the school just trusted the coach, on something that would be so easily verifiable. These photos were it? No one in admissions ever googled one of the applicants to see if there was evidence beyond that kind of stuff? If you’re truly a good high school athlete, it’s going to show up online somewhere. There’d be photos of events, news reports on scores, something.
i hope they go to jail for a long time.
i think the school should also be held accountable as they decide who will be admitted.
Lucy, you are right about googling them but they would never have taken the time to do so. My daughter played NCAA sports for all 4 years, and if you google searched her, all her high school achievements would pop up. All those local tournaments (especially the big ones) get reported on in local papers.
That being said, when she was offered a spot at college, the athletic department literally walked the application over to admissions and said, “We want her.” They do check to make sure she met the ACADEMIC requirements of the school but the school relies on the coach to do the investigation of the athletes. By the time these kids get to college, unless they are a “walk on” (meaning they come to open tryouts and this is rare that someone will get on the team this way), they have been talking to the coach for quite a while. Coaches go to high school tournaments to recruit and see who is coming up that might be a good fit for their particular school.
I will say that things have now changed. My daughter is now a college coach in her sport and says that there are many more hoops to jump through before an athlete can be accepted. More paperwork, more proof needs to go to the school before they are offered admission.
They must be sh*tting even more now, they could end up in prison smack in the middle of a bad winter virus resurgence. Probably should have left the country a while ago.
They should have taken the deal they were offered. This whole holier than thou shite is coming back to bit them in their entitled butts.
“They should have taken the deal they were offered.”
yeah, this. is anybody event talking about Felicity Huffman anymore?…NO.
granted, her crime wasn’t as severe as Aunt Becky’s, but she pleaded guilty, did her time and is now under the radar.
If I recall, her original deal was two years and a fine half or double the size of the bribe. I thought that was a long time and when Felicity got 15 days in jail, I thought Lori was smart to not take the deal. She can still ask for a deal, apparently she can ask for a deal right up until the trial starts, but it won’t be anywhere near as sweet as the original deal.
This fraud should be in prison already.
This criminals should face their deserved time. They did the crime, they must now do the crime. I don’t believe the will get off. I believe there is too much damning evidencence against them, and now the rowing photos. They are guilty as sin. Lock ’em all up!!!! I think the daughters are just as guilty as their parents, and should be faced with some criminal charges as well. They give white trash a bad name!!!!
Absolutely! Kick their butts into those cells!
I laughed out loud when I saw their “rowing” photos. I thought at least they’d been photoshopped into a team photo or rowing on the actual water. I’ve got my grandfather’s old rowing machine in my basement. If I take a pic on it, can I also get a free degree from USC?
Felicity Huffman took the deal, got her minimal time over with and can continue her life. Lori and Mossimo’s continued BS is going to make sure we never remember that Felicity was a part of this. Their daughters are going to have to live with these pictures for the rest of their lives. Their entitlement is going to gall a public (who is finally OVER celebrity privilege) to never want to watch/ buy a product of theirs again AND….! They’re still going to be found guilty at the end of this. On the upside, if they can get convicted before January, there’s hope for a pardon from the Great Orange King Trump.
“Whatever, the little a–hole has been back on social media for months.”
Thanks, I needed that.:-)
Rick Singer: “OK Lori, first you need to start taking random amounts of cash out of your account over a period of say four months. Then you need to open an account in diifferent bank in Mexico under a false name. Get a burner phone and transfer that money to this anonymous account number in the Cayman Islands.”
Lori: “Doesn’t sound shady at all, Rick. Will do.”
I’m lost here. I thought maybe the girls were photoshopped into pics of an actual team, but that’s obviously not the case. How does a picture of someone on a rowing machine prove that they’re a star rower? Does that mean all I had to do was scare up some tennis whites and pose with a racket and I could have gone to a top-notch college as a tennis prodigy? The rules rich people play by are confusing.
” The little idiot” has been back on social media for months raking in the money. So who’s the idiot?
IS she though? “raking in the money”? she lost all of her sponsorship deals when the sh*t hit the fan, and she doesn’t have any currently (that have been made public, anyway).
unless you know something that ISN’T public?
We need to re-assess what we value as a society. Let’s look at morals, kindness, good deeds.
Yes, for sure, one can still be a little idiot and be raking in money on social media.
Is Aunt Becky really that stupid?
It’s crazy how they refuse to see consequences for their actions. Like they really thought their privilege was never going to end. Olivia Jade being back on social media is like… do you understand that people know you are a cheater and a fraud? Why would anyone want to be influenced by you now? These are kids that have more rules than you and more life aspirations than you and more responsibilities than you. They should influence YOU.
But at the same time, this is why parents shouldn’t micromanage their kids lives forever. Olivia Jade didn’t want to go to college. She said so. Let her be another Paris Hilton if she wanted to. Not everyone has the will or the brain power to be a doctor or a lawyer. Instead, they were willing to let a spoiled brat take the spot of a real good student who actually wanted to go to college and that’s the saddest part to me. And it’s not that Olivia Jade is stupid, necessarily. I don’t know her. But I do know that she just doesn’t give f*ck. She never wanted to be a student. And they’re paying dearly for a very unnecessary problem.
LOL you want to know why those photos are so damning? This bitch wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that outfit. Just screams staged haha I mean look at her she looks average.
They both deserve prison but it only takes one nut to hang a jury and this is California after all. Home of the Twinkie defense among other distinctions. Its enough to have ruined careers and lost sponsorships. There’s always a community college!! Felicity Huffman exhibited class all the way and her daughters will benefit from the valuable lesson.
The case is being heard in Manhattan.
I stand corrected. Thank you for that. I love this site! You have the most intelligent and insightful people here. I have learned so much about how Americans are perceived in the world. No surpise there. It will take decades for the stench of Trump to clear our nostrils.
They act so nonchalant to People. Us weekly had her foaming at the mouth because the US atty dare release those photos. Her atty was talking about filing a complaint about that. However these were procured during discovery and entered into evidence. So anything entered into evidence, unless it’s sealed by a judge, automatically is available to the public. You and I can walk into the courthouse and pull the file for a good laugh.