Amazon and Sephora hired Lori Loughlin's Instagram-famous daughter as an influencer before the FBI charged her parents in an explosive college admissions bribery scandal
- Olivia Jade Giannulli, the Instagram-famous daughter of "Full House" star Lori Loughlin, has been paid by high-profile companies such as Amazon and Sephora as an influencer in recent months.
- In one Instagram partnership with Amazon Prime Student, Giannulli highlights the e-commerce giant's deals for college students.
- The influencer also has an ongoing partnership with Sephora, releasing a makeup palette with the beauty brand.
- Loughlin and Giannulli's father, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused by the FBI of agreeing to pay $500,000 in bribes to facilitate Olivia Jade's and her sister's admissions into the University of Southern California.
Olivia Jade Giannulli has forged paid partnerships with high-profile brands such as Amazon, Sephora, and Direct Smile Club in recent months.
The daughter of "Full House" star Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli - known for founding the Mossimo fashion brand - acted as a paid influencer while attending the University of Southern California.
On Tuesday, the FBI accused Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli of agreeing to pay $500,000 in bribes in exchange for having Olivia Jade and her sister, Isabella Rose, designated as recruits for the USC crew team.
The designation was intended to facilitate their admission to USC, as neither girls participate in crew. Olivia Jade was "at or just below the 'low end' of USC's admission standards," according to an email sent from a cooperating witness to Mossimo Giannulli, cited in the documents released Tuesday.
Olivia Jade Giannulli built up a massive YouTube and Instagram following, starting prior to her admission to USC. She has 1.3 million followers on Instagram and close to two million followers on YouTube.
Because of her massive social media presence, a number of brands have established paid partnership deals with Olivia Jade. In light of the college admissions scandal, a September 2018 Instagram post - labeled as a paid partnership with Amazon Prime Student - seems especially ironic.
In the photo, Olivia Jade is seen sitting on a bed, apparently in her USC dorm room. The caption reads: "Officially a college student! It's been a few weeks since I moved into my dorm and I absolutely love it. I got everything I needed from Amazon with @primestudent and had it all shipped to me in just two-days. #ad #primestudent#allonamazon"
Olivia Jade also told Teen Vogue in a September interview that she ordered "everything" for her room off of Amazon.
"I found pretty much everything for my dorm on Amazon's college store - it was easy to find it all in one place and there were so many options to choose from," Olivia Jade said. "I was also able to use my Prime Student membership and received all the items in two-days with free shipping."
Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. Olivia Jade has not posted any paid content to promote Amazon Prime Student on Instagram since September.
Olivia Jade established a more active partnership with beauty brand Sephora.
The influencer has posted a number of posts labeled as paid partnerships with Sephora, most recently in mid-January. She additionally collaborated with Sephora on a powder palette released in December 2018.
Sephora did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment or provide information on whether its partnership with Olivia Jade will continue.
Other paid partnerships posted by Olivia Jade in recent months include Instagram posts with SmileDirectClub, Clinique, and Lulus. The three brands did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Olivia Jade's Instagram comments were flooded with discussion of her parents' alleged bribery on Tuesday.
"Maybe you should come up with a new palette called 'jailhouse dew,'" reads one comment on Olivia Jade's most recent Sephora-sponsored post on Instagram.
"Can I have dibs on your lamp when you get the boot from USC?" reads a comment on the post paid for by Amazon Prime Student.
"This has not aged well," reads another comment on the post.
Loughlin and Olivia Jade did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. USC did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but said in a public statement that the university has not been accused of wrongdoing and is "reviewing its admissions processes broadly to ensure that such actions do not occur going forward."
