Lori Loughlin has been experiencing the fallout of a college admissions scandal since 2019. However, her former Full House and Fuller House co-star, John Stamos, spoke out during a podcast appearance in support of her.
Stamos appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast on November 14, 2022. During the episode, Shepard brought up Loughlin’s scandal.
Shepard mentioned how Stamos had expressed frustration over the Loughlin situation in the past. This was because he acknowledged that people disliked when he defended his co-star, but he felt guilty if he didn’t do so.
Stamos expanded on this perspective and explained that he had defended her because, as her friend, he knows the full story.
He stated that she regretted her actions and also that she paid a steep price for them. Stamos expressed that all she did was set up a college fund and wound up in jail.
He also firmly stood by her innocence in the matter. He stated, “I am going to say this, and she said I could. She wasn’t really the architect of any of it — she was in the way background. She didn’t know what was going on.”
Why was Lori Loughlin imprisoned?
Stamos referenced that Loughlin spent two months in jail after a college admissions scandal came to light in 2019. Both she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were arrested on charges of fraud and bribery.
However, Loughlin and Giannulli weren’t the only culprits in the scheme. William Singer, a college admissions consultant, and a total of 33 parents were indicted on bribery charges.
The scandal started to come to light when the couple’s daughter, Olivia Jade, began documenting her life at the University of Southern California. The prestigious private school has an acceptance rate of just 16%, but both of Loughlin’s daughters made it in.
It turns out their acceptance was the work of Singer. After Loughlin sent him $200,000, he ensured the girls’ acceptance into the school by creating fake athletic profiles and credentials to make them appealing recruits for the crew team.
Loughlin and Giannulli weren’t the only parents who used Singer’s services. He raked in a whopping $25 million serving wealthy parents by getting their kids into elite universities and falsifying test scores.
In addition to spending a few months in prison, both Loughlin and Giannulli paid fines of over $100,000. However, their daughters stayed enrolled at the university despite the scandal.
The aftermath of Loughlin’s scandal
Loughlin faced a few more consequences, as her career also took a hit from the scandal.
While Loughlin is best known for her role in Full House, she was also known for her Hallmark work. Over the years, she starred in multiple TV films and TV film series for the network.
However, Hallmark cut all of its business ties with her after the scandal. As a result of the scandal, she took an acting hiatus from 2018 – 2021.
Her reputation has also taken a hit, as evidenced by Stamos reiterating that he gets negative reactions from defending her. However, their friendship hasn’t been hurt by the scandal.
This was further confirmed by a sweet TikTok video Stamos shared to show that he and Loughlin still hang out even if they’re not co-stars anymore.
Regardless of what others think, Stamos has made it clear that his loyalty remains with his friend.