Olivia Jade's parents bought her into USC — Sephora dropped her the next day

By early 2019 Olivia Jade Giannulli — daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli — had built a beauty-media business on roughly 1.9 million YouTube subscribers and 1.3 million Instagram followers. The partnerships ran deep: a Sephora Collection collaboration with her own bronzer palette, plus work with Amazon, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Smashbox, Too Faced, Boohoo, TRESemmé, HP, Lulus, Princess Polly and Smile Direct Club. The warning had been public since August 2018, when she told viewers: 'I don't really care about school, as you guys all know.'

On March 12, 2019, the college-admissions bribery indictments became public: her parents were accused of paying $500,000 to have Olivia Jade and her sister designated as USC crew recruits, and Loughlin surrendered to the FBI the next day. The brands left within days. Sephora ended the Sephora Collection partnership 'effective immediately'; TRESemmé pulled its campaign; HP removed content from its properties; the webpage for her Princess Polly collection disappeared; Lulus said it had 'no plans' to work with her again.

The collapse carried one irony: between March 12 and 14, while the partnerships dissolved, Olivia Jade's YouTube channel grew from 1.2 million subscribers to 1.9 million — attention rising exactly as the business fell. 'Brands should always do their proper due diligence on the content and news associated with influencers they would engage with,' Socialbakers chief executive Yuval Ben-Itzhak said, 'and are engaging with over time.' The 'I don't care about school' clip, apologised for in two days in 2018, became the scandal's soundtrack.