How Lori Loughlin Managed To Salvage Her Soured Reputation

Two things have shaped Lori Loughlin's public identity: her role as Aunt Becky on the hit sitcom "Full House" (and its reboot, "Fuller House"), and her involvement in the infamous 2019 college admissions scandal. It's hard to tell which has left a more indelible mark on the actor, who served time for the so-called "Varsity Blues" scandal and has been immensely grateful for her return to acting.

Loughlin told E! News in December 2024 that her time back on a TV set in one of her first acting roles since leaving jail "felt great." The industry veteran played Lieutenant Bishop on the 2025 police drama "On Call," a role that's ironic considering her dealings with law enforcement a few years prior. Loughlin and her former husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were two of many parents — including fellow actor Felicity Huffman — who were prosecuted in the scandal. They paid now-discredited college counselor William "Rick" Singer to bribe universities and secretly inflate the test scores of his clients' children to ensure their entrance into elite schools. Loughlin pled guilty to a conspiracy charge, spent two months behind bars, paid a fine, and completed hours of community service.

As much as one wonders what has happened to Loughlin since her stint in jail, it's equally interesting how she made it through to the other side and started acting again. The answer? Perseverance. "Everyone has good times and bad times. That's life," she told First For Women magazine in April 2024. "I think you just have to pick yourself up."

Following a prolonged period of denial, Lori Loughlin eventually admitted to her mistakes and apologized for them. "I made an awful decision ... I ignored my intuition and allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass," she said in a statement following her sentencing, per CBS News. "And more importantly, I now understand that my decision helped exacerbate existing inequalities in society generally, and the higher education system more specifically. That realization weighs heavily on me."

Even with such a big hit to her reputation, Loughlin eventually found ways to laugh at herself. In 2024, the actor made a surprise appearance as herself on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," scandal and all. In the episode, Loughlin makes some hilariously immoral choices, including the use of a handicap parking sticker and lying about her golf game. 

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" executive producer Jeff Schafer described how Loughlin was enthusiastic about everything they made her do in the episode. "I hope it helps her career. She was great, and she should work," he said. "She was really funny and wonderful to work with." It seemingly did help; Loughlin had many coming to her defense on a Reddit thread, with the original post citing her HBO appearance as a sign of dignity and self-awareness.