Reese Witherspoon’s daughter replaces Lori Loughlin’s Olivia Jade in Amazon college promotion
Amazon has found a new second-generation celebrity to partner with for its “Off to College” home decor campaign after ending its sponsored content deal with Olivia Jade Giannulli amid the college admissions bribery scandal.
Ava Phillippe, the daughter of actors Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, is Amazon’s replacement for Olivia Jade, the daughter of TV actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli. Ava Phillippe, 19, is a student at UC Berkeley, who will be entering her sophomore year in the fall, according to the Daily Mail and InStyle.
Phillippe announced her new Amazon sponsorship on Instagram. Often referred to as her mother’s look-alike, Phillippe shared a photo of herself in her dorm room, decorated with affordable items like a charcoal duvet cover, a glass globe lamp and a Persian-inspired distressed rug.
“Getting excited for Fall semester at school with my new decor from @amazon! It was so fun getting to decorate my own space with all these college essentials! @amazonhome #ad #allonamazon #amazonhome,” she captioned her photo.
Phillippe’s post was liked by her mother, with the “Big Little Lies” star writing, “Love your style!”
Amazon had a similar partnership with Olivia Jade, who shared a photo of herself in her dorm room at the University of Southern California in the fall. At the time, Olivia Jade, 19, was an up-and-coming social media influencer and YouTube vlogger with a combined 3.3 million followers on Instagram and YouTube.
But Olivia Jade immediately lost several sponsorship deals after her parents were accused in March of paying $500,000 in bribes to get her and her sister, Isabella, admitted to USC on the false pretense of being recruits to the school’s rowing team.
After news of the scandal broke, Olivia Jade and Isabella Giannulli reportedly stayed away from the USC campus, though they officially remain enrolled.
Like other USC students whose wealthy parents were charged in the bribery scheme orchestrated by college admissions counselor William “Rick” Singer, the status of the Giannulli sisters at the university is under review, leaving them in academic limbo.
They cannot officially withdraw from the school, but they cannot register for new classes either, USC said in a statement.
In May, it was reported that Olivia Jade was pining for her days as a USC student, even though she had previously portrayed herself as an indifferent student who preferred building her career as a social media influencer.
“Olivia Jade wants to go back to USC,” a source told Us Weekly. “She didn’t get officially kicked out, and she is begging the school to let her back in.”
But another insider suggested to Us Weekly that Olivia Jade’s interest in returning to USC has nothing to do with any academic ambitions, but was part of her effort to rehabilitate her reputation, which took a severe hit after her parents were implicated in the scandal.
“She wants to come out looking like she’s changed, learned life lessons and is growing as a person, so she for sure wants people to think she is interested in her education,” the source said.