Lori Loughlin: Hallmark Channel drops actor amid college admissions scandal

Actor's career and the Hallmark Channel are deeply intertwined

Lori Loughlin attends the Premiere Of Disney's 'Mary Poppins Returns' at El Capitan Theatre on 29 November, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. ((Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images))

The Hallmark Channel has cut ties with Lori Loughlin after the actor was charged in what authorities have described as a large-scale college bribery scheme.

Hallmark Cards Inc, the channel’s parent company, said in a statement on Thursday that it will no longer work with Loughlin and has stopped development on all productions in which she appears.

“We are saddened by the recent allegations surrounding the college admissions process,” the statement reads.

“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.”

The company initially took a wait-and-see approach after a federal investigation of the scam involving more than 30 parents, many of them prominent, was revealed on Tuesday. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of allegedly paying bribes to gain their daughters’ college admissions.

Loughlin’s career and the Hallmark Channel were deeply intertwined. She’s been among its so-called “Christmas queens” who appear in a slate of popular holiday movies, and also starred in the ongoing Garage Sale Mysteries movies, as well as the series When Calls the Heart.

“It’s a feel-good, family values-type channel, and obviously scandal is the opposite of that,” said Atlanta-based market strategist Laura Ries.

There was more at stake than image. When Calls the Heart tapes in Canada, and a judge ordered Loughlin’s passport to be surrendered in December after grudgingly allowing her to cross the border for work until then.

Loughlin has not yet entered a plea in the case, and her attorney declined comment on Wednesday after her first appearance in a Los Angeles federal court. Loughlin’s publicist declined comment on Thursday on Hallmark’s decision to drop her.

The actress isn’t exclusive to Hallmark. She’s reprised her role as Aunt Becky for Netflix’s Fuller House reboot of the popular series that originated in 1987 on ABC. But the sitcom represents a fraction of the streamer’s flood of programmes, while Loughlin has occupied an increasing amount of Hallmark real estate since she starred in Meet My Mom in 2010.

She’s proved a reliable performer. Her 2018 holiday movie, Homegrown Christmas, was the most watched non-sports cable program the week it aired. In February, the season six premiere of When Calls the Heart was watched by a series-best 2.5m viewers, putting it behind only The Walking Dead in Sunday night cable dramas.

“They definitely have a formula and you do have to follow the formula. And if you don’t, they rein you back in and say, ‘You have to follow. This is our format, this is what we do,’” Loughlin said of the Christmas movies last year in an interview with The Associated Press.

The New York City native proved a good fit for the channel that specialises in romantic dramas and comedies with a wholesome touch, while her media-friendly personality allowed her to expertly tout her shows on her website and in TV appearances.

Then came Tuesday’s bombshell government allegation that Loughlin and her husband were allegedly among more than 30 parents who paid a consultant to ensure their offspring’s place in college with bribes and falsified exams. Prosecutors allege that the couple paid $500,000 to have their daughters labelled as crew-team recruits at the University of Southern California, although neither is a rower.

Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives, American Crime) was among the other prominent parents, including a lawyer, doctor and hedge fund manager, indicted in the scam.

The news comes on the same day that Sephora announced its decisions to severe its partnership with Loughlin’s YouTuber daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli.

Paris-based Sephora said in a statement on Thursday that after reviewing the recent developments, it had ended its partnership with 19-year-old Giannulli “effective immediately”.

Giannulli is a social media star with millions of followers and frequently pushes products online.

Additional reporting by agencies