Olivia Jade Giannulli urged Instagram followers to call out acts of racism rather than just inwardly condemning them as protests continued over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck.
But many dismissed the 20-year-old social influencer as the wrong messenger, given that her parents, “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are headed to prison for short stints after pleading guilty to fraud and conspiracy. The two paid $500,000 to have Olivia Jade and her sister Isabella fraudulently admitted to USC as crew recruits.
A particular passage about white privilege in Olivia Jade’s speech seemed to irk some readers.
“As a person who was born into privilege based on my skin color & financial situation, i was not alway aware that these issues were still so present,” she wrote. “And that makes me feel awful. But that also fuels me. It makes me want to learn more and do more and be better for all my beautiful black friends and any other person who faces discrimination. I’m not racist and i never have been but i need to speak up about this because just not being racist isn’t enough.”
Olivia Jade, who wasn’t charged in the college admissions scandal, has sporadically attempted to return to social media since her parents’ arrest in March 2019.
But, according to critics, holding forth on white guilt and discrimination in an Instagram story perhaps wasn’t the way to go.
“Talk about a complete lack of self-awareness,” one Twitter user wrote.
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