Obviously the Black Lives Matter movement isn’t going to turn down support from anyone right now — well, almost anyone — but there are some folks who no one wants to hear from on the subject of white privilege or inequality right now. And it turns out Olivia Jade Giannulli is right up there near the top of the list.
The 20-year-old YouTuber has basically become the poster girl for privilege and entitlement over the past year thanks to the college admissions scandal.
Her parents, Full House star Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, recently (finally) pleaded guilty for participating in an illegal scheme to get her and her sister Bella admission to USC under the pretense of joining the crew team — despite the fact neither were rowers. She quietly accepted (if not knowingly participating in) her parents shelling out HALF A MILLION BUCKS to cheat her way in, taking the place of a student who actually earned their way.
What’s more, by all accounts she didn’t even use her time in college, choosing to blow off classes because IT JUST DIDN’T MATTER TO HER.
So yeah, it’s not surprising when people see her preaching about “white privilege” they aren’t too impressed.
But Olivia, who reportedly has every intention of rebuilding her brand as an influencer, took to her Instagram Stories late Sunday night and posted her two cents on race relations in the wake of the protests surrounding George Floyd‘s murder. She wrote:
“Don’t sit there & allow this to continue happening. And if someone says something like ‘no one is around that it offends’ or ‘it’s a joke’ it should offend ALL of us speak because it’s outright wrong and disgusting that humans talk/treat other humans THE way we’ve seen… If you see something that doesn’t look right… do something!!!!! THIS NEEDS TO BE CHANGED. FOREVER! And as a person who is born into privilege based on my skin color & financial situation I was not always aware that these issues were still so present. And that makes me feel awful. But that also fuels me.”
At least she was acknowledging her privilege? That’s a good step. But sadly she didn’t realize that meant it was a good time to be quiet and listen. She continued:
“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. We need to stop complaining about the smallest things because the black community are fearful of dying and being oppressed every single day just based on the way they look and how they were born. TIME to step tf up and keep making noise because this cannot continue to happen. IT’S DISGUSTING.”
Like we mentioned, several people took offense at the idea of the face of privilege telling other people what they should be doing right now.
Some twitics wrote:
“why the f**k is Olivia jade posting about George on her ig? SHES THE DEFINITION OF WHITE PRIVLEGE SHE CONTRIBUTED TO IT WILLINGLY…her parents cheated her way into a school and only got 2 months in jail..she is not allowed to speak on the matter holy s**t f**k her”
“She needs a reality check! So tone deaf!”
“The college admissions scandal contributes to the sense of outrage felt by many who take to the streets and violently protest systemic entitlement,privilege and discrimination, while sweet lil olivia jade drops make-up tutorials like nothing happened. dumb, clueless and tone deaf”
Still, there were those who defended her for trying to say the right thing. One wrote:
“That’s exactly why she should speak wtf are you talking about ??♀️. Yes she is beyond privelleged and she should use that and her platform to speak on the injustices going on in the world and how it’s time to start holding people accountable”
Hmm.
What do YOU think, Perezcious readers? Should someone in Olivia Jade’s position keep out of the way right now? Or should she be applauded for being on the right side? (Or is all this sudden social awareness just another step in rebuilding that brand??)
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