Somber on set. While the cast of Fuller House is enjoying filming their last season of the hit Netflix series, Lori Loughlin’s legal trouble amid her alleged involvement in the nationwide college scandal is weighing heavy on their minds, Juan Pablo Di Pace told Us Weekly exclusively.
“Well, we all love Lori because Lori’s part of this family too,” the actor, 40, who plays Fernando on the show, explained to Us at the Project Angel Food Angel Awards Gala on Saturday, September 14. “So, it’s an upsetting situation and we wish her … I mean, we wish her the very, very best on this really difficult situation, but she is part of the family, so it’s painful for everybody.”
Di Pace told Us that he doesn’t know how the final script changed after Loughlin, 55, made headlines in March, when she and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were named and arrested for allegedly paying $500,000 in bribes in order to get their daughters Bella and Olivia Jade accepted to USC. (The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges in April.)
“I actually don’t have an idea,” he said. “They don’t tell me about that. We don’t talk about that.”
Last month, Loughlin’s longtime friend and former Full House castmate John Stamos spoke out about the situation. “I gotta be careful,” the 56-year-old told GQ. “I want to wait until the trial happens, if it does, or whatever the result is, and then talk about it. … I’ll tell you one thing that has been strange is: Honestly I can’t figure it out. It doesn’t make sense.”
Stamos added: “Whatever happened … I’m pretty sure that the punishment is not equal to the crime, if there was a crime.”
Loughlin’s Fuller House family aren’t the only ones worried about her amid the ongoing scrutiny.
“Lori’s friends are concerned. They say she should have followed [Felicity] Huffman’s lead and taken a plea deal and accepted responsibility,” an insider told Us Weekly earlier this month, with a nod to the Desperate Housewives actress, 56, who pleaded guilty to her involvement in the case.
While in court on September 13, Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison, 250 hours of community service, a year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine.
“I was frightened, I was stupid and I was so wrong. I am deeply ashamed of what I have done,” Huffman told the judge in Boston before the verdict. “I take full responsibility for my actions. … I am prepared to accept whatever sentence you deem fit.”
With reporting by Amanda Champagne
