Lori Loughlin has reportedly been dropped from the Netflix series “Fuller House” after being indicted in the nationwide college bribery scheme.
Loughlin, 54, and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, allegedly paid $500,000 to get their two daughters designated as sports recruits at the University of Southern California in order to facilitate their entry into the school, prosecutors said.
Both were arrested this week and released on bond. They’re slated to appear in federal court in Boston later this month.
Loughlin will not be returning for the fifth and final season of “Fuller House,” expected to kick off later this year, a source told TMZ.
“Fuller House is not currently in production. Lori is a guest star and was during the previous 4 seasons and there are currently no plans for her to return to the 5th season,” the source said.
A source told Deadline’s Dominic Patten that Loughlin’s time with the Netflix was over.
“She’s toast,” said the source, described as “well positioned.”
“While no official final decision has been made by the streamer or distributor Warner Horizon Television on still UTA-repped Loughlin’s Fuller House fate, I’m told the writing is pretty clearly on the wall. A final judgement could come as soon as the next day or so,” Patten added.
Loughlin starred in the “Full House” sitcom, which ran from 1987 to 1995 on ABC.
Loughlin was reprising her “Aunt Becky” role in “Fuller House,” which started airing in February 2016. Loughlin, listed as a guest star, appeared in 13 episodes across four seasons, according to the Internet Movie Database. The new series focused on characters who were children in the original, played by Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Andrea Barber, respectively.
John Stamos, who plays Loughlin’s on-screen husband, and fellow “Full House” stars, such as Bob Saget, have also appeared in about a dozen episodes in the new series.
Producers haven’t officially announced the axing of Loughlin from the show and it wasn’t clear, if she was removed, in what manner her character would depart.
The reports of Loughlin being removed from “Fuller House” came as it was confirmed she was dropped from two television shows on the Hallmark Channel.
Crown Media, Hallmark’s parent company, announced the news on March 14.
“We are saddened by the recent news surrounding the college admissions allegations,” the company stated. “We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels involving Lori Loughlin including ‘Garage Sale Mysteries,’ an independent third party production.”
Hallmark also yanked the “When Calls the Heart” episode slated to air on March 17 from its lineup as writers re-arrange the storyline for an exit for Loughlin’s character.
“We are no longer airing the episode on March 17, but we are not cancelling the show,” a representative for Crown Media told Variety. “The show is one of our best performers in the Sunday night slot, and we are exploring all sorts of creative options moving forward.”
According to Deadline’s Patten, removing Loughlin’s character from “Fuller House” would be far easier than removing her from the Hallmark series.
With just a few lines of dialogue about how Loughlin’s character “had to leave San Francisco suddenly,” Loughlin’s guest role could be resolved, he noted.
“That’s certainly a far cry from the deep re-edits or other ‘creative solutions’ that Hallmark producers are trying to come up [with] on their series that Loughlin starred on,” he said, since her characters on those shows are much more embedded into the central storylines.
Loughlin’s removal from three television series comes as her daughters, Olivia Jade Giannulli, 19, and Isabella Giannulli, 20, reportedly won’t return to the University of Southern California because they fear being bullied over the bribes.
Olivia Jade, a social media influencer, has also been dropped by at least two companies who had partnered with her: Sephora and TRESemme.
“After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately,” Sephora said in a statement.
