Hours after Lori Loughlin was named in a nationwide college admissions cheating scam, NBC’s “Today” resurfaced a 2017 interview with Loughlin and her daughter Isabella Giannulli, who at the time was preparing for her freshman year of college at USC.
“She’s not going to far, but my husband keeps saying, ‘Lori, you’re not gonna see her so just be prepared,’” Loughlin said in the clip. “I think I’m in complete denial, I really am, because when I think about it too much it will make me cry.”
Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were among 46 people federal prosecutors say paid up to $6 million in bribes to ensure their children’s admission into top tier universities like Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC, according to charging documents.
In the clip, Loughlin nods as her daughter confirms her plans to study acting at USC.
“I just love all of it. I’d be happy to do anything,” Isabella said, explaining that her mother had “helped me with so many auditions, which is so nice.”
At the time the clip aired, the pair had recently filmed a Hallmark movie together called “Homegrown Christmas.”
“She’s so new so she’s just — it takes time. And you have to know, 9 times out of 10, even higher, you’re not gonna get the job,” Loughlin said of the selective audition process.
Watch the full clip above.
Court filings say that Loughlin and her husband “agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC.”
“Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman was also named in the case. Her husband, “Shameless” actor William H. Macy, was not named, but did join his wife in making a charitable donation of $15,000 “to participate in the college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her oldest daughter,” according to the affidavit.