John Stamos Reveals ‘Odd’ Call With Lori Loughlin About College Admissions Scandal

Heavy/Getty John Stamos and Lori Loughlin

Actor and musician John Stamos‘ new memoir, “If You Would Have Told Me,” is full of headline-making revelations about his decades-long career and high-profile love life. One excerpt regarding his fellow “Full House” cast member — and former Hallmark star — Lori Loughlin is raising some eyebrows, thanks to new details Stamos revealed about the day Loughlin’s involvement in a college admissions scandal became breaking news.

In his new book, released on October 24, 2023, Stamos wrote that he was the person who tipped off Loughlin when reports began surfacing about her alleged involvement in the scandal, which eventually landed her in prison and out of a job at Hallmark. In his recollection of their conversation, Stamos, 60, noted how “nonchalant” Loughlin, now 59, was about the allegations against her at the time, as if she had “no clue” about the seriousness of the situation.

Here’s what you need to know:

John Stamos Called Lori Loughlin While She Was Filming With Hallmark in Canada

GettyLori Loughlin attends the 30th Annual Movieguide Awards in February 2023

When news first broke about the scandal involving his on-screen wife, Stamos was alerted to it via an early morning text from a friend, he wrote in his memoir.

He and Loughlin grew to be close friends while playing a couple — Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky — on “Full House,” which aired from 1987 to 1995. They reprised their roles on the “Fuller House” reboot that premiered in February 2016, though Loughin’s character was absent for the final nine episodes due to the admissions scandal, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“In March 2019, I get a strange text around 5:30 am from my good friend Roger Lodge,” Stamos wrote. “He asks if Lori is okay. I hit him back, ‘Why, what’s up?’ Something about a college scandal. I started Googling, but there was very little I could find. I knew she was working in Canada, so I called to check on her.”

By that time, Loughlin had become one of Hallmark’s most popular stars, appearing as Abigail in the hit series “When Calls The Heart” and in multiple movies, including the “Garage Sale Mysteries” franchise — all of which were filmed in Canada.

Stamos wrote that when he told Loughlin what he’d heard, he was surprised by how unbothered she seemed by it.

“‘Oh that, yeah, I’m not sure,’ she answers so casually as if I just asked her if Nicky and Alex finished all their vegetables,” Stamos wrote, adding that she then said, “‘I have seen some emails lately from lawyers to Moss, but I stay out of it.'”

“Before I can process her response,” Stamos continued, “I notice an odd clicking sound on the phone line. When I asked her about it, she again adopts her laissez-faire tone, ‘Oh, they may be bugging my phone.'”

Stamos wrote that he then ended that call “as fast” as he could. But after hanging up with Loughlin, Stamos shared in his new book, he noticed that the news was quickly spreading, so he texted her to let her know.

“Then, switching on the news, the story breaks big time,” he wrote. “I immediately text Lori, ‘Are you watching the news? An FBI agent is announcing the largest college admissions scandal ever handled by the Department of Justice, involving bribes to prestigious colleges for falsified student acceptances.'” Stamos wrote that he then urged Loughlin to turn on her TV.

“She asks, ‘What channel?'” he recalled. “I text back in all caps: ‘EVERY CHANNEL!’”

Lori Loughlin Didn’t Realize News About the Scandal Was Breaking, According to John Stamos

GettyActress Lori Loughlin and husband Mossimo Giannulli exit the Boston Federal Court house after a pre-trial hearing in Boston on August 27, 2019.

In 2019, the FBI released the findings of their “Operation Varsity Blues” investigation, which rocked higher education and was followed closely by news and entertainment media. Mastermind Rick Singer is currently serving six years in prison for his crimes, per NPR, which included bribing college coaches to accept students into their schools as athletic recruits, even if they’d never played the sport they coached.

Singer provided the service for a hefty fee to the rich and famous. In addition to Loughlin, his most high-profile clients included actress Felicity Huffman, who paid $15,000 to boost her older daughter’s SAT scores, according to the Associated Press.

After the news spread like wildfire, Loughlin took an overnight flight home from Canada to Los Angeles, per People, and was arrested there for “conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.”

Hallmark cut ties with Loughlin on the day of her arrest and has not worked with her since. She now periodically appears in movies on Great American Family and starred there in a 2021 “When Calls The Heart” spin-off, “When Hope Calls.” A pivotal scene in the October 2023 season 10 finale of WCTH has fans wondering if Loughlin will return to the Hallmark series next season — a move the show’s executive producer, Brian Bird, has said he’d like to see.

Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty in May 2020 to paying Singer $500,000 to get their daughters into the University of Southern California, per the AP, by pretending they’d been recruited for the rowing team there. The couple even sent Singer photos of their daughters, Bella and Olivia, on rowing machines to help create fake athletic profiles for them, the AP reported.

Mossimo spent five months behind bars, while Loughlin served a two-month sentence from October through December 2020, according to CNN. Loughlin then served two years of supervised release, and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a fine of $150,000. Giannulli also serves two years of supervised release, but had to perform 250 hours of community service and pay a $250,000 fine.

John Stamos is Still Friends With Lori Loughlin, Along With Some of Her Hallmark Colleagues

In addition to sharing the story of his call with Loughlin before she was arrested, Stamos wrote in his new book that he remains friends with the actress.

“Lori Loughlin continues to be a cherished friend to this day,” Stamos wrote. “We’ve weathered storms together and stood by each other’s sides, despite life’s hurdles. We’ve seen each other at our worst.”

“I’ve witnessed moments where giving up could’ve been the easiest way out for Lori,” he continued. “She could have shifted the blame and let her family, marriage, and life crumble. But she didn’t. No matter how hard she was hit, how desperate everyone was to cancel her and throw her in with the pile of brutal criminals, she stood fast, protecting her daughters from the mud hurled at them day after day after day.”

Stamos added, “She managed to get up every morning, then got down on her knees and prayed to keep her family together. She did the same every night. And in between, she mostly fought to stay alive.”

Most of the “Full House” cast has publicly expressed their support for Loughlin over the years. Four months after the arrests, Jodie Sweetin, who is also a frequent Hallmark movie star, told “Access Hollywood” of her TV family, “We’re together through thick and thin.”

In June 2022, Loughlin was in attendance when Hallmark actress Holly Robinson Peete received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, per the Daily Mail. She also appeared as a presenter at the 2023 MovieGuide Awards in February alongside former Hallmark star Candace Cameron Bure, according to Us Weekly. 

Some of Loughlin’s WCTH co-stars, including Erin Krakow and Pascale Hutton, have continued their friendships with the actress, too. They periodically post photos with her on social media, like one in which Loughlin was holding Krakow’s dog, and a July 2023 birthday tribute to Loughlin featuring a photo of Hutton and Kavan Smith with her.