Actress Lori Loughlin’s daughter has been dropped by another company that advertises on her popular social media accounts as the fallout from a college-admission bribery case continues.
Hair products company TRESemme said in a statement Thursday that it is no longer working with Olivia Jade Giannulli.
Giannulli, a 19-year-old student at the University of Southern California, had promoted TRESemme products on her social-media accounts, which include a popular YouTube channel.
Her father is fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, and her parents are among 50 people arrested in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal.
Prosecutors allege the couple paid $500,000 to have their two daughters labeled as crew-team recruits at the University of Southern California, even though neither is a rower.
Earlier in the day, the cosmetics company Sephora made the same move.
Lori Loughlin Loses Starring Roles on Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel cut ties Thursday with favored star Lori Loughlin, a day after her arrest in a college admissions scam put the family-friendly network and extended Hallmark brand in uncomfortable proximity to a headline-grabbing scandal.“We are saddened by the recent allegations surrounding the college admissions process,” Hallmark Cards Inc., parent company of the Crown Media Family Networks umbrella group that includes the Hallmark Channel, said in a statement.
“We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin” and have stopped development of all productions with the actress for Crown Media channels, the statement said.
The company initially took a wait-and-see approach after a federal investigation of the scam involving more than 30 parents, many of them prominent, was revealed Tuesday.
Loughlin’s career and the Hallmark Channel were deeply intertwined. She’s been among its so-called “Christmas queens” who topline a slate of popular holiday movies, and also starred in the ongoing “Garage Sale Mysteries” movies and the series “When Calls the Heart.”
“It’s a feel-good, family values-type channel, and obviously scandal is the opposite of that,” said Atlanta-based market strategist Laura Ries.
There was more at stake than image. “When Calls the Heart” tapes in Canada, and a judge ordered Loughlin’s passport to be surrendered in December after grudgingly allowing her to cross the border for work until then.
Loughlin has not yet entered a plea in the case, and her attorney declined comment Wednesday after her first appearance in a Los Angeles federal court. Loughlin’s publicist declined comment Thursday on Hallmark’s decision to drop her.
The actress isn’t exclusive to Hallmark. She’s reprised her role as Aunt Becky for Netflix’s “Fuller House” reboot of the popular series that originated in 1987 on ABC. But the sitcom represents a fraction of the streamer’s flood of programs, while Loughlin has occupied an increasing amount of Hallmark real estate since she starred in “Meet My Mom” in 2010.
