Chrisley Knows Best If you’re a fan of reality television,
fascinated by life down south, and like to watch old-fashioned family banter,
then you would love the show Chrisley Knows Best. The show revolves around Georgia real estate mogul
Todd Chrisley and his family as they navigate uber wealth while trying to maintain down-home
American values. It premiered in March 2014 on the USA Network and has filmed ten seasons since then.
Todd has five biological children. The oldest two with his ex-wife,
Teresa Terry, and the youngest three with his current wife, Julie, a main character on
Chrisley Knows Best. The couple also has full custody of Todd’s granddaughter.
Todd says he’s a self-made millionaire from a small rural town. With hard work,
he moved into a gated neighborhood in Atlanta with several celebrity neighbors.
His real estate fortune allowed his family to live in the lap of luxury.
He flew to Los Angeles for haircuts and spent thousands at a time at Louis Vuitton
and Saks Fifth Avenue. Their main home is 30,000 square feet, and he spends at least
$300,000 per year on clothes. Even though Todd earns millions of dollars every year,
the show focuses on the same problems faced by members of the American middle-class.
Todd’s also known for being a hypochondriac and even rented a hyperbaric chamber and
spent money on IV treatments to improve his health. He recorded music with country singer
Sara Evans. He also started his own production company with a show on Netflix called “Demarcus
Family Rules,” about the bassist for Rascal Flatts and his family.
But behind the fancy cars and family drama is a mountain of scandal. Their lavish lifestyle,
apparently funded by Todd’s real estate success, was all a lie. For years,
the family simply submitted false paperwork to take out bank loans.
Tax Evasion In August 2019, everything hit the
fan. The Chrisleys were indicted on 12 counts of bank and wire fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy.
Officials accused them of scamming the state out of $2 million in taxes between 2008 and 2016.
Prosecutors claimed the couple also used their production company, 7C Production,
to hide more than $1 million of reality TV income from the IRS. Todd shifted blame to an employee,
Mark Braddock, alleging that Braddock forged asset and income documents without his consent.
The Chrisleys turned themselves in and pleaded not guilty to the charges. The following October,
the Georgia Department of Revenue cleared them of their tax evasion charge. But it wasn’t over yet.
$30 Million It turned out that much of the family fortune
didn’t come from real estate but from bank loans. According to the Department of Justice,
the Chrisleys used the money to buy luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate, and travel. They
filed for bankruptcy and were able to walk away from $20 million in loans. Around the
same time they filed for bankruptcy, the family received nine offers for a reality TV show.
So, they operated a loan-out company that received the income earned from the show and
other entertainment gigs and transferred it to corporate bank accounts in Julie’s
name to avoid paying half a million dollars in delinquent taxes. Then, the family transferred
bank account ownership to Todd’s mother to further hide the riches from the IRS.
In 2014, Julie made fake financial documents and lied to real estate agents in the hopes
of securing a luxury rental home in Los Angeles. But they never paid rent,
and the homeowner eventually filed an eviction lawsuit.
For example, some of their loan request documents stated they had $4 million of assets at Merrill
Lynch, but they didn’t even have an account at that bank. Todd directed his accountant,
Peter Tarantino, to commit the fraud, and then had his wife use tape and glue to falsify documents.
Meanwhile, according to the indictment, the Chrisleys weren’t filing tax returns or
paying personal income tax between 2013 and 2016. Tarantino was accused
of filing two false corporate tax returns for the loan-out company,
which claimed that the business earned no income and made no distributions in 2015 and 2016.
When Julie learned of the grand jury’s investigation into her family, she submitted
more fake paperwork to make it look like they didn’t lie to the bank when they transferred
ownership to her mother-in-law. Of course, more fake paperwork just lands you in more hot water.
In May 2022, Todd and Julie stood trial for wire fraud, obstruction of justice,
and tax evasion. After a three-week trial, the jury found them guilty on all counts,
including eight counts of financial fraud and two counts of tax evasion.
Julie was also convicted on two additional counts of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
Tarantino was found guilty of filing false corporate tax returns on behalf
of the Chrisleys. They could each be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
NBC Thoughts The network stood by
their side despite the Chrisley family's legal drama. In the middle of the trial,
NBC Universal announced that “Chrisley Knows Best” was renewed for a tenth season. Several
spinoff shows, including Growing Up Chrisley and Love Limo, were also given the green light.
“Growing Up Chrisley” is a spinoff featuring Chrisley’s children Chase and Savannah,
as they go on a road trip from Nashville to Los Angeles to prove their independence. It
premiered in April 2019 on USA Network and was renewed for its fourth season
in 2022. “Love Limo” is a new project from the Chrisleys that will feature
the family patriarch as the host of a new speed-dating show set to premiere in 2023.
Chrisley Knows Best is one of USA Network’s most-watched original series,
with an average of 1.8 million viewers per episode. Though karma might suggest that
their show should be taken off the air, that’s not how things work in reality TV.
In fact, this scandal will probably boost their ratings. The Chrisleys will exploit
the justice system on their show as the cameras roll while they prepare for trial.
Scripted You might not be surprised to learn that much of
what happens on the show is scripted. Chrisley’s signature one-liners are so perfectly timed that
many viewers wonder if they’re organic. The answer is no, even though Mr. Chrisley says otherwise.
Chrisley claims to be a son of the south whose witty remarks come naturally to him.
But an inside source confessed that a crew of writers was hired in 2017
to work on the show. More than half of the dialogue is scripted,
and many scenes are filmed again when they don’t come out as funny as Todd wants them to be.
They are so obsessed with themselves that there are now five spinoff series about the family,
including a podcast called “Chrisley Confessions” hosted by Todd and Julie.
Family Strain Aside from their financial
and legal scandals, there’s no shortage of family drama, which is why the series is
so popular. Todd has strained relationships with his eldest children, Lindsie and Kyle.
When Lindsie married Will Campbell in January 2012, Todd was upset that Will didn’t ask for
his approval beforehand. He transferred his anger to Lindsie, saying it was disrespectful.
Todd was offended by the way their marriage began, and the father-daughter relationship
only got worse on air. In season five of Chrisley Knows Best, Todd claimed that Lindsie’s animosity
toward the family is rooted in her anger and jealousy towards her half-sister, Savannah,
and other half-siblings. Todd claims that it began with Savannah having more social
media followers than Lindsie and then that Lindsie wasn’t getting enough time on screen.
Another source of family drama is Todd’s son, Kyle. In November 2012,
Kyle and his now ex, Angela Johnson, had a baby girl named Chloe. But after she was born,
Kyle struggled with addiction. In 2013, he was arrested and charged with assault,
so the court awarded the Chrisleys and Johnson shared custody of Chloe.
Kyle went on the record in 2014 to claim that his father stole Chloe to improve the show’s ratings
and expand their demographic, being that Chloe is half black. Todd clapped back on Twitter,
saying that Kyle has mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, which he will struggle with for
the rest of his life. As if these diagnoses are a reason to discredit Kyle’s claims.
Todd gained full custody of Chloe when Johnson was arrested in 2016. She claimed
Chloe as a dependent in an attempt to defraud Medicaid and food stamps.
Kyle got in trouble with the law again in May 2019 when he was arrested and charged with
felony possession of an illegal substance—the kind Walter White probably cooked. Police found
the stuff in his car in Oklahoma. There was also a warrant for his arrest in Georgia for making
threats against an ex-girlfriend. The district attorney dropped the drug charges in Oklahoma.
He was booked for the threats in Georgia and released on his own recognizance.
In another case of family drama, Lindsie filed a police report in July 2019 claiming that Todd and
his son Chase were teaming up to release a risque tape involving her. Todd fired back, saying he
tried to keep her extramarital relationships with Bachelorette cast members Robby Hayes and Josh
Murray a secret. He never had any intention of releasing a tape of his daughter. Murray said that
he and Lindsie were friends for years and that they never intentionally made a tape. Instead,
they got caught on a security camera. Meanwhile, Lindsie’s attorney claims that his client is a
constant target of lies, harassment, and threats from the people who are supposed to be her family.
After nine years of marriage, Lindsie announced her split from Campbell in July 2021. Todd
posted a message of support for his daughter even though he blocked her on social media.
On a podcast, Lindsie said she was shocked to hear about her father’s
post since he still has her phone number and could have reached out to her directly.
In August 2021, Todd said he didn’t reach out to Lindsie about the divorce
because he felt it wasn’t his place. But it seems like he had no problem weighing in on Twitter.
Then, there are the famous allegations that Todd is attracted to other men.
He embraces the rumors, saying he's flattered that men find him attractive. He and Julie got
married in 1996 and have been happily married ever since. As a flamboyant,
fashion-minded Elton John fan, Todd may fall into certain stereotypes, but he doesn’t mind.
Blaming Todd and
Julie blamed the false loan documents on a company employee, Mark Braddock.
Todd met Braddock in the early 2000s through their children’s school
and became good friends. Braddock worked for Todd’s foreclosure-management company until 2012.
Chrisley’s accusations of Braddock backfired on trial when Braddock said that he was hired by
the Chrisleys to participate in the scam. Todd apparently asked him to create fake
Microsoft Word documents to inflate income so he could take out more in loans. Chrisley’s
attorney claimed Braddock was obsessed with Todd and stole money from the family.
Braddock cooperated with the federal government in exchange
for legal immunity. He said that Todd and Julie lived well beyond their means,
paying salaries for three housekeepers, purchasing luxury vehicles, and paying
for twice-monthly air travel for Todd to get his haircut at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
According to Braddock, Todd needed $500,000-600,000 per month just to
break even. The couple received at least $60 million in loans. Then,
Braddock made the bombshell claim that he and Todd had a year-long
intimate relationship. Before taking the stand, Braddock had to confess to his wife of over
thirty years that he had an affair with Todd. But Todd denied any relationship with Braddock.
Braddock testified that Todd paid $38,000 cash to an anonymous blackmailer who
threatened to expose their affair and the family’s financial fraud.
After Todd fired Braddock from his company,
Braddock tipped off the FBI about Chrisley’s financial and legal fraud.
Verdict In June 2022,
Todd and Julie were convicted of conspiring to defraud banks out of
$30 million and evading years of taxes. He and his wife were given house arrest while
they await further sentencing. But house arrest doesn’t seem too bad when living in a mansion.
As part of their house arrest, the Chrisleys also have location monitoring that only allows
them to leave the house for work, medical appointments, and court appearances.
They are required to tell their probation officers any time they spend more than $1,000.
With the show's future hanging in the balance, the network may try to pull some strings
to lighten the couple’s sentences and make sure they don’t go to jail.
At least there are five other spin offs if Chrisley Knows Best doesn’t work out.
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