LOUGHLIN BLUES: A Look into the Fall and Rise of Lori and Olivia's Reputation 

“Be classy, you only get one reputation” – Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli to Olivia Jade

 

In the celebrity world it seems reputations are like cats, they too have nine lives. When it comes to true scandal the type of scandal that breaks down the velvet curtain between “us” and “them”, this cheating of death is not always guaranteed. Olivia Jade and Lori Loughlin seem to be calling on one of their nine lives.

 

Before Olivia Jade and Lori Loughlin’s lives got turned upside down, you knew one as a popular beauty and lifestyle influencer on YouTube and the other as Aunt Becky. Well, the Loughlin house got a little too full when news broke on March 12, 2019 about their involvement in the college admissions scandal known as “Varsity Blues.” Lori went from being everyone’s favorite aunt and a Hallmark staple to a woman with too much privilege and too little awareness. Olivia went from being a successful influencer with brand deals from Amazon, Smashbox Beauty Cosmetics, Boohoo, TRESemmé and her very own palette with Sephora Collection to a spoiled teenager with no place at the University of Southern California.

 

The whole Loughlin crew underwent public scrutiny, court hearings and a fall from grace – it seems almost impossible to think their reputations could ever be resurrected. However, if you turn on your TV screens at 8 p.m. ET to ABC you will see one Olivia Jade on the ever so popular Dancing with the Stars. Also, if you are a big Hallmark buff you will recall When Calls the Heart and as of Sept. 28 Lori Loughlin will be reprising her role.

 

So, the question begs… how did these disgraced Hollywood sweethearts make their way back into the mainstream media? Shouldn’t their reputations speak for themselves, why would anyone want to watch them, pay them or support them? Well, the answer comes in two words: Reputation Management.

 

The three key elements of reputation management, specifically online, are reputation monitoring, reputation repair and reputation building. These three elements are just what they sound, managing a reputation begins with monitoring social media channels and online conversation. Then once scandal or controversy is surfaced, reputation repair must come in to sweep up the negativity and implant positivity in its place. Finally, reputation building begins once a solid foundation has been laid and positive content can begin to grow and flourish. 

 

Olivia Jade and Lori Loughlin have engaged in these three elements of reputation management through their social media channels and media appearances. After the college admissions scandal broke and her parents began facing prison sentencing, Olivia took a nine-month self-imposed hiatus from all her social media accounts. This decision caused many to believe she was in denial and had no remorse over her parents’ fraudulent behavior. However, once these nine months came to an end, Olivia posted a two-minute video to her YouTube followers explaining she could only talk about how she felt, not the legalities of it all. While the negative comments did pour in, Olivia continued to Instagram where she began to post more “casual” and “relatable” posts for her followers. In order to reach this momentous return, Olivia had to evaluate the current public opinion of herself, a privileged and ungrateful celebrity, and seek to alter this negative image.

 

The content Olivia has posted on Instagram and YouTube since officially making a comeback on December 1, 2019, has been a stark contrast from her pre-scandal red carpet glam days. She now posts in sweatpants, bikinis and minimal to no make-up at times. Her YouTube videos consist of vlogs from inside her California apartment, where the only other faces are her dog Milo and sister Bella. She seldom posts about her parents and if she does the comments are always disabled. Olivia is in the process of building her reputation back through curating her content to be relatable, real and removed from her past self.

 

Olivia made a red-hot return to the mobile screen when she appeared on the highly controversial and intimidating Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Jones. This family affair sought to reveal the affairs within Olivia’s family, she came on the show with a somber and innocent appearance and expressed the work she has done on herself and work she seeks to do for others. Shortly after this appearance, the brand deals began to return as did the opportunities for a reborn reputation. Olivia is now a contestant on Dancing with the Stars with beloved professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy and launching her very own podcast Conversations with Olivia Jade on Oct. 24.

 

While Lori Loughlin, unlike her daughter, is still on the road to redemption, the news that she will reprising her role on the hit show When Calls the Heart is a step in the right direction. Lori has deleted her social media channels and made no appearances on her daughters’ channels since the scandal began and this continued through the end of her prison sentence. The world will be watching as she seeks to navigate and cultivate her own reputation.

 

So, as Olivia and Lori continue to embark on one of their nine lives, the public (you and me) begin to question if we would be so lucky to get nine chances at perfecting our reputations. In a world where celebrities’ reputations are like cats, when do we know if one life is more than enough?