Lori Loughlin ends nearly 29-year marriage to Mossimo Giannulli with divorce filing in Los Angeles

The "Full House" actress filed for divorce from fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli in Los Angeles Superior Court, formally ending a marriage that survived the college admissions scandal but not its aftermath.

Lori Loughlin, 62, submitted the filing on September 4, citing irreconcilable differences after 27 years and nine months of marriage. The court documents list August 31, 2025, as the couple's separation date, nearly a year before the filing became public. ABC News obtained the court documents and reported that Loughlin is requesting assets and debts be divided according to a premarital agreement the couple signed on October 28, 1997, roughly a month before their November 27 wedding.

That premarital agreement was amended on August 11, 2015. The filing also asks the court to reserve the question of spousal support for future determination and to allocate attorney's fees between the parties.

Separation confirmed last October, but Loughlin's camp denied legal action

The divorce was not a surprise to those tracking the couple's unraveling. In October 2025, Loughlin's representative Elizabeth Much confirmed to "Good Morning America" that the pair had split. Much also told People magazine that the two were "living apart and taking a break from their marriage," adding: "There are no legal proceedings at this time."

That statement held true for nearly a year. But Loughlin's September 4 filing made the break permanent and legal. ABC News reached out to Loughlin's representative for comment on the divorce and attempted unsuccessfully to contact Giannulli.

Sources close to the couple painted a bleaker picture last fall. The New York Post reported that Loughlin was "devastated" by the split and that people around the couple said there was "currently no chance" of reconciliation. An anonymous source told Us Weekly at the time: "This isn't a shock to people around them. It has been a rough time for Lori. She is devastated." The Post also reported that Giannulli had "been on dates" while Loughlin had not.

High-profile divorces often reveal the gap between the public image a couple projects and the private reality they endure. The divorce filing of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson showed what happens when no prenuptial agreement exists. Loughlin and Giannulli, by contrast, had one in place before they married, and amended it nearly two decades later.

Varsity Blues scandal left prison sentences and a fractured marriage

Loughlin and Giannulli were charged in 2019 as part of the sprawling college admissions scandal known as Operation Varsity Blues. Prosecutors accused the couple of paying $500,000 to get their two daughters, Isabella Rose Giannulli, now 27, and Olivia Jade Giannulli, now 26, admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, even though neither daughter had participated in the sport.

Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in 2020. Loughlin was sentenced in August 2020 to two months in prison. At her sentencing, she apologized, saying she "made an awful decision" and "allowed myself to be swayed from my moral compass." Giannulli received a five-month sentence and said he took "full responsibility" for his actions.

The scandal consumed the couple's public reputation and, by multiple accounts, their private life. Six years separated the criminal charges from the confirmed separation, years in which both served their sentences and attempted to rebuild.

John Stamos, Loughlin's longtime "Full House" co-star, offered a pointed defense of Loughlin in comments reported by Fox News. Stamos called Giannulli "a terrible narcissist" and said he "dragged her through" the admissions scandal. He placed blame squarely on Giannulli:

"She goes to f---ing prison for this a**hole for three months, right? And he goes for whatever... She didn't deserve to be dragged through that... I know for a fact it was all him."

Stamos's account is one person's view. But it tracks with the sentencing disparity, Giannulli's five months versus Loughlin's two, and with the broader public perception that Loughlin bore a disproportionate share of the reputational damage for a scheme prosecutors tied more directly to her husband.

Loughlin's filing keeps key financial questions open

The divorce filing does not resolve the couple's finances. By requesting that assets and debts be divided according to the premarital agreement and its 2015 amendment, Loughlin is signaling that she expects the terms already negotiated to govern the split. But the filing leaves spousal support as an open question, reserved for future court determination.

What the premarital agreement actually covers, and what the 2015 amendment changed, remains unknown. The court filing's specifics on asset values and property have not been made public. Celebrity divorces in California, a community-property state, can become protracted when one side disputes the scope of a prenuptial agreement or argues that marital assets fall outside its terms.

Celebrity breakups often create more public commentary than legal substance. But the pattern of personal fallout following public scandal is real, and post-divorce confessionals from public figures have become their own genre of media spectacle. Whether Loughlin or Giannulli follows that path remains to be seen.

Giannulli has not responded publicly to the filing. ABC News was unable to reach him for comment. The couple's two adult daughters have not made public statements about the divorce.

Relationship breakdowns involving public figures and ex-spouses can take unpredictable turns, as the recent arrest of TLC star Karen Derrico on charges tied to her ex-husband showed. Loughlin's filing, at least on paper, appears straightforward, a clean legal end to a marriage that weathered a federal prosecution but could not survive what came after.

The Loughlins paid their legal debt. The marriage, it turns out, carried a separate tab, and the bill just came due.