There was nothing pleasant for Olivia Jade during the massive college admissions scandal that saw both of her parents sentenced to prison.
Nevertheless, the social media influencer said that she actually had a “very inspirational” experience talking about the public shaming she endured.
In a video posted to her TikTok on Friday, Jade said that she was talking with a woman about instances of being publicly shamed, suggesting that whatever this other woman went through was far more serious than her situation.
Jade came under fire after her parents (“Full House” star Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli) paid $500,000 to ensure she and her sister were both admitted into the University of Southern California in what would turn out to be the largest college admissions scandal in U.S. history.
Many wealthy parents have been charged, but there has been uncertainty as to just how much their children knew about the subterfuge and bribes they were paying to get them enrolled into the nation’s elite schools.
In many cases, it’s been emphasized that the children had no idea that anything was amiss, or that a professional test taker was taking a test in place of the one they had taken to assure they got a higher grade.
Nevertheless, as the most high-profile face associated with the scandal, Jade was blasted relentlessly for cheating her way into college despite the wealth and privilege she enjoys just by being in the family she’s in.
While she has felt the pain of being called out and shamed on a national scale, Jade nevertheless felt that there was no way her story compared to this other woman’s, at which point she was advised of an important truth.
“She looked at me and said, ‘Olivia, it doesn’t matter if I’m drowning in 60 feet of water and you’re drowning in 30, we’re both still drowning,'” Olivia shared. “I think about that quote every day because I think it’s so true and it’s such a bigger message to our world right now.”
“I think we’re all very quick to judge,” she added. “I think we’re all very quick to put people down.”
She then emphasized the importance of validating our own pain and resisting the urge to try and compare it to anyone else. “I just want people to remember, if your feelings are hurting, if they’re valid to you, they’re valid. It doesn’t matter if someone is going through worse.”
The way she put it is that everyone is “allowed to have a hard time,” but their story or their experience doesn’t take away from anyone else’s lived experiences. “We’re all human beings,” she emphasized.
Jade is also developing a thicker skin about the “public shaming” she still endures from time to time. As a recent example, she clapped back perfectly to someone who tried to troll her over the scandal. They might have gotten away with it, too, were it not for a key spelling error.
The follower, inquired, “How’s collage,” according to Yahoo.
Picking up on the typo, Olivia Jade replied, “Thank you for asking. It’s pretty good. I actually love collaging. I’m working on this really f—— sick scrapbook that I have to show you guys soon. It’s chef’s kiss, beautiful work I’ve done.”
Jade never returned to USC after the scandal, telling “Red Table Talk” that she was “too embarrassed.” “I shouldn’t have been there in the first place, clearly, so there was no point in me trying to go back.”
Instead, Jade has refocused her energies on her social media channels and building her brand as an influencer.