Jada Pinkett Smith’s mother Adrienne ‘Gam’ Banfield Norris said she opposed Olivia Jade Giannulli’s headline-making appearance on Red Table Talk Tuesday.
Gam, 67, gave reasons why she was uncomfortable with the 21-year-old daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli appearing on the Facebook Watch show, and brought them up with the influencer.
‘I fought it tooth and nail,’ Gam said in a segment prior to the appearance for Olivia Jade, whose parents are in prison after admitting to paying an admissions fixer $500,000 to arrange for the University of Southern California to recruit her and her sister Isabella Rose, 22, onto the school’s rowing team, despite that they had no background in the sport.
The latest: Jada Pinkett Smith’s mother Adrienne ‘Gam’ Banfield Norris, 67, gave reasons why she was uncomfortable with Olivia Jade Giannulli appearing on the Facebook Watch show
‘I found it really ironic that she chose three Black women to reach out to for her redemption story,’ Gam said. ‘I feel like, here we are, a white woman coming to Black women for support when we don’t get the same from them.
‘It’s bothersome to me on so many levels. Her being here is the epitome of white privilege to me … at the end of the day, I really feel like she gonna be okay and she’s gonna recover whether her a** was sitting at this table or not.’
Jada acknowledged that she, Gam and daughter Willow Smith had ‘very different feelings’ about giving the Olivia Jade a large platform.
Jada said she felt Olivia Jade deserved a space to tell her side of the story, to which Gam said, ‘Obviously you do, because I fought it and guess what, she gonna be sitting right there; my feelings are what they are … let’s carry on.’
Gam said in a segment prior to the appearance for the influencer, ‘I fought it tooth and nail’
Background: Olivia Jade’s parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli are in prison after admitting to paying an admissions fixer $500,000 to arrange for USC to recruit her and her sister onto the school’s rowing team, despite that they had no background in the sport
Owning it: Olivia said, ‘I’m not trying to victimize myself, I don’t want pity, I don’t deserve pity – we messed up
After Gam asked her about being insulated from the blowback from the education scandal due to her privilege, Olivia said, ‘I’m not trying to victimize myself, I don’t want pity, I don’t deserve pity – we messed up.’
She continued: ‘I just want a second chance to be like, I recognize I messed up and for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind this. I never got to say, “I’m sorry that this happened.” I think everybody feels that way in my family right now.’
After Gam quizzed Olivia Jade on if she had a ‘clear understanding of what privilege really is now,’ Olivia Jade confirmed it.
Olivia Jade said: ‘Just based off my skin color, I already had one foot in the door and I was already ahead of everybody else. 100 percent I can recognize that.’
Gam explained to Olivia Jade why she didn’t want her to appear, saying it was a waste of the platform with the historic social and health issues in the headlines this year.
‘For me, it’s like, there is so much violent dehumanization that the Black community has to go through on a daily basis, there is so much devastation,’ she said, ‘particularly this year, 2020, with the pandemic and everything being brought to the table, there’s so much inequality and inequity that when you come to the table with something like this, it’s like child, please.’
‘I’m exhausted; I’m exhausted with everything we have to deal with as a community and I just don’t have the energy to put into the fact that you lost your endorsements or you’re not in school right now.’
Her take: Gam explained to Olivia Jade why she didn’t want her to appear, saying it was a waste of the platform with the historic social and health issues in the headlines this year
More pressing worries: Gam told Olivia Jade she lacked ‘energy to put into the fact that you lost your endorsements or you’re not in school right now’
Gam said that she felt the famed family would recover fine within a few months, whereas a number of people wouldn’t have the resources, opportunities and chances to rebound.
‘At the end of the day, you’re going to be okay, your parents are going to go in and they’re gonna do their 60 days and they’re gonna pay their fine and you guys will go on and be okay and live your life,’ she said. ‘And there’s so many of us that it’s not going to be that situation.
‘It just makes it very difficult right now for me to care – in this atmosphere we are in right now.’
Gam said that she didn’t bear a personal grudge against Olivia Jade, and commended her efforts in trying to learn about the issues at hand and how Olivia Jade’s spot took that of a person who ‘worked hard to earn the right to be in that college.’
Olivia Jade answered, ‘I didn’t come on here to win people over – I just want to apologize for contributing to these social inequalities’ and ‘to recognize that I am aware.’
Loughlin and Giannulli are both currently serving prison sentences of two and five months, respectfully. It was not immediately clear if they were aware Olivia Jade would be appearing on the social media program, as she she hadn’t talked to either since they entered prison.