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During a recent episode of her 'Conversations With Olivia Jade' podcast, Olivia Jade Gianulli addressed a "big misconception" about her involvement in the college admissions bribery scheme that landed both her parents in jail. The former Dancing with the Stars contestant wants everyone to know she worked hard as a high school student.
“There is a big misconception about me, I feel at least personally, where I get that comment of, ‘You don’t work hard.’ I didn’t have to start my YouTube when I was 14, I did put in a lot of work,” she began. “There are always rumors floating around about my grades: ‘She clearly didn’t work hard. She must have failed school.’ I don’t even think I’ve ever said this publicly, but in high school, I had straight A’s and I worked really hard at school.”
Despite working hard, Gianulli says she's aware she still has a privilege that gives her a leg up. “I am super aware that I’ve been given opportunities because of my parents and I know that I live a very blessed and fortunate and privileged life,” she said. “But then there’s also a part of me that feels… it’s tricky. It’s hard to speak on because I know that to the average human, I have it easy.”
“I started [therapy] a few years ago when things went sideways in my family and with the college scandal,” she continued. “I just needed somebody to talk to. … When I first started, I wanted it to be good and everything to be healed and all of this to work overnight or within a week’s span, and I feel like it’s been years, and I’m still dealing with things and I still have so many questions.”
This isn't the first time the influencer has addressed the aftermath of the scandal on the podcast, either. During the first episode, she sat down with Dr. Hillary Goldsher, a psychologist, to discuss "the past, letting go, and moving forward" and admitted she lives in fear of being canceled again.
“I’m so hesitant to talk about it because of the trauma … of like, ‘Gosh, if I say this or it comes off kinda the wrong way, am I gonna get canceled again?’ It really does leave an impression in one’s mind,” she shared. “I get so nervous, and I feel like I walk on eggshells when I talk, just because I don’t wanna say the wrong thing. And I wanna make it clear to people listening that I’m not trying to victimize myself.”
“Not to sound super dark, but how do you bounce back then? Because I wanna be alive, I still wanna grow up… It’s like, ‘Don’t exist anymore,'” Olivia continued. “I’m so scared of looking up my name and something bad is happening, and I’m the face of it, and it’s going to be this big thing that blows up in my face again.”
“People who have experienced it, even if it’s in a different capacity, it’s like you live your life a little bit differently, in my opinion, and you just kind of shut down,” she said. Ultimately, she feels she is "way harder" on herself now as a result of the scandal.