Olivia Jade donated to the National Bail Out Fund after receiving backlash online for her 'hypocritical' posts condemning white privilege
- YouTuber Olivia Jade Giannulli participated in the BLM Donation Challenge, a social media movement in which participants use a video filter that randomly recommends a donation to a cause affiliated with the Blacks Lives Matter movement.
- Giannulli posted her challenge video to her Instagram stories on Thursday, ultimately donating to National Bail Out.
- The donation follows days of social media backlash to the influencer's previous posts about racism and white privilege.
- Critics referenced Giannulli's USC acceptance — a critical component of the notorious college admissions scandal — as a prime example of white privilege.
YouTuber Olivia Jade Giannulli is returning from her social media break and joining fellow celebrities in making financial contributions to causes furthering the Black Lives Matter movement, according to her latest Instagram story. The influencer (and youngest daughter of 'Full House' star Lori Loughlin and designer Mossimo Giannulli) made a donation to National Bail Out amid nationwide protests in response to the killing of George Floyd in police custody.
Giannulli participated in the BLM Donation Challenge, a popular movement on Instagram in which a video filter randomly generates a cause affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement. After the filter landed on "National Bail Out," a self-described "collective of abolitionist organizers" who aim to end mass incarceration and pre-trial detention, the YouTuber made a financial contribution to the organization and posted a receipt of her donation in a subsequent Instagram story.
In accordance with the challenge, Giannulli challenged five friends to do the same, tagging her older sister, Bella, her boyfriend, Jackson Guthy, and friends Stassie Karanikolaou, Kaysan, and Charley Borquez.
Over the past week, Giannulli has taken to social media to condemn racism and white privilege, but her previous posts were met with intense backlash online from critics who noted that her parents' role in the notorious college admissions scandal was a prime example of white privilege.
"As a person who was born into privilege based on my skin color & financial situation, i was not always aware that these issues were still so present," Giannulli wrote in an Instagram story on May 31. "And that makes me feel awful. But that also fuels me."
She continued, writing, "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. It outrages me. It makes me feel sick. It brings me to tears. THERE SHOULD NOT BE SUCH A GAP BETWEEN PEOPLE LIKE THIS. We need to support and stand up and speak and use our WHITE PRIVILEGE TO STOP THIS."
The post sparked outrage and skepticism from critics who found her comments to be hypocritical.
"Olivia jade on IG going on about white privilege... you mean the thing that's keeping your parents out of jail and that fake got you into USC? I can't," one Twitter user wrote, receiving over 3,000 likes.
"WHITE PRIVILEGE IS KEEPING YOUR PARENTS PUT [sic] OF JAIL WHILE BLACK PEOPLE GET MURDERED FOR WALKING DOWN THE DAMN STREET," another wrote.
"olivia jade has about the same success rate of educating people about anti-white privilege as she does at winning a rowing competition," one critic quipped, referencing Giannulli's admission to USC as an athletic recruit — a qualification that, prosecutors in the college admissions case argued, was entirely fabricated.
Last month, Lori Loughlin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, while Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud as well as honest services wire and mail fraud. The two are set to be sentenced for their role in the college admissions scandal in August.
Loughlin is expected to serve two months in prison and complete 100 hours of community service (under a two-year supervised release). Giannulli is expected to serve five months and complete 250 hours of community service. The two will pay a fine totaling $400,000.
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