Danica McKellar: Lori Loughlin didn’t deserve prison time
According to Danica McKellar, Lori Loughlin didn’t deserve prison time for her role in an infamous college admissions scam. The actress made the statement in response to a question about her fellow Hallmark star at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles.
“She’s a wonderful person, she always has been, and it would be challenging to find a person who hasn’t made a mistake in their life,” McKellar told a reporter. “She served her time. I’m not going to speak to whether or not she deserved that. Personally, I don’t think so — but she served the time.”
Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison for her role in the scandal. She and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty to fraud charges after they paid so-called “fixers” to help their daughters gain admittance to the University of Southern California. They were among 50 parents charged in what officials called Operation Varsity Blues.
Loughlin completed her prison sentence in December of 2020. She completed 100 hours of community service. According to reports from US Weekly, Loughlin also paid $500,000 to put two students through college.
When Calls the Heart
When news of the admissions scandal broke, Loughlin was starring Hallmark Channel’s longest-running original series When Calls the Heart. The show took a month-long hiatus as writers and producers decided what to do with her character, Abigail Stanton. They chose to write her off the show.
But Loughlin returned to television in December of 2021. Her When Calls the Heart character made an appearance on the show’s spinoff series, When Hope Calls.
Hallmark produced the first season of When Hope Calls. It was picked up by a new network, GAC Family, for Season 2. Loughlin appeared as Abigail Stanton in a Christmas special for the series.
Danica McKellar: Lori Loughlin didn’t deserve prison time
McKellar spoke about Loughlin in response to a question about her own involvement with GAC Family. The network started programming in September 2021. It is run by former Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott.
In October, McKellar signed an exclusive multi-picture deal with the network.
During her appearance on the red carpet at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, McKellar spoke of her work with GAC Family and Hallmark.
”I’ve done 16 movies for the Hallmark Channel, and I loved my time there,” she said. “In this network, I get a much more hands-on role with executive producing, and it’s really exciting to sign this multi-picture deal with them and be creating movies.”
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