Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley defiant after Trump pardons
'I don't have an apology to give you or anyone else over the money that I've made,' Todd Chrisley said in an interview with ABC News that was posted online Monday.
Speaking to the network alongside his wife, Julie, who was also imprisoned and then pardoned by the president, Chrisley's comments were some of his most extensive comments yet about his and his spouse's abbreviated experiences behind bars.
He joked that his first post-pardon shower back home was as exciting as his 'first sexual encounter'. And, as his family begins planning to return to television with a new reality show on Lifetime, he said 'it doesn't matter what someone else's opinion' of him is.
'No one's opinion of me has ever caused me to question who I am at the core,' the former co-star of Chrisley Knows Best said to ABC News. 'So I don't worry about someone else's opinion.'
Chrisley Knows Best aired on USA Network from 2014 to 2023, depicting Todd as a wealthy real estate developer and entrepreneur who was raising a family with Julie in their suburban Atlanta mansion.
But in 2019, during Trump's first presidency, the federal government charged the Chrisleys with tax evasion and bank fraud. Jurors in 2022 convicted the couple of defrauding banks of at least $30m, leaving Todd to be sentenced to 12 years in prison and Julie to seven years.
The couple's daughter Savannah Chrisley was a vocal Trump advocate as he successfully ran for a second presidency in November 2024. Trump then pardoned Todd and Julie on 27 May, a little more than four months after he was sworn back into the Oval Office.
Trump personally called Savannah to inform her of her parents' pardons, according to a White House video.
The Chrisleys' pardons freed them from prison after serving less than three years. Their pardons came amid a series of clemencies that Trump gave to supporters in what evidently was a broader rebuke against a justice system that had convicted him of criminally falsifying business records months before he retook the White House.
Some particularly criticized the Chrisleys' pardons because an appeals court had upheld their jury convictions.
Nonetheless, as ABC News noted, Todd argued that the makeup of the couple's jury was questionable and the president was right to pardon him and Julie.
Julie recounted to the network that she had made some everlasting friendships while incarcerated. 'I have met some amazing women … that I will be friends with till the day that I die,' she told ABC.
Yet, unsurprisingly, Todd said he and his wife were relieved to be out of prison early as they weigh whether to move to South Carolina and film themselves converting a mansion into a hotel.
'You don't realize how much your freedom means to you until you don't have it,' he remarked.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Jimmy Swaggart, US televangelist brought down by scandal, dies aged 90
Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who became a household name amassing an enormous following and multimillion-dollar ministry only to be undone by revelations of paying sex workers, has died. He was 90. Swaggart died decades after his once vast audience dwindled and his name became a punchline on late-night television. His death was announced on Tuesday on his public Facebook page. A cause was not immediately given, although he had been in poor health. The Louisiana native was best known for being a captivating Pentecostal preacher with a massive following before being caught on camera with a sex worker in New Orleans in 1988, one of a string of successful TV preachers brought down in the 1980s and 90s by sex scandals. He continued preaching for decades, but with a reduced audience. Swaggart encapsulated his downfall in a tearful 1988 sermon, in which he wept and apologized but made no reference to his connection to a sex worker. 'I have sinned against you,' Swaggart told parishioners nationwide. 'I beg you to forgive me.' He announced his resignation from the Assemblies of God later that year, shortly after the church said it was defrocking him for rejecting punishment it had ordered for 'moral failure'. The church had wanted him to undergo a two-year rehabilitation program, including not preaching for a full year. Swaggart said at the time that he knew dismissal was inevitable but insisted he had no choice but to separate from the church to save his ministry and Bible college. Swaggart's messages stirred thousands of congregants and millions of TV viewers, making him a household name by the late 1980s. Contributors built Jimmy Swaggart Ministries into a business that made an estimated $142m in 1986. His Baton Rouge, Louisiana, complex still includes a worship center and broadcasting and recording facilities. Swaggart said publicly that his earnings were hurt in 1987 by the sex scandal surrounding rival televangelist Jim Bakker and a former church secretary at Bakker's PTL ministry organization.
Daily Mail
22 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Disgraced ex-NBA star sentenced to jail for two years after pleading guilty to $4million healthcare scam
Former NBA star Sebastian Telfair has been sentenced to six months in jail after failing to meet the terms of his supervised release in relation to a health fraud case. Back in 2021, Telfair was among a number of NBA stars who were arrested following a $4million health care scam done by defrauding the league's health insurance plan. Two years later, the former NBA star pleaded guilty to charges of fraud - which amounted to $350,000 from his own claims - and was sentenced to three years of probation. However, it has now emerged that Telfair has since failed to abide by the court-ordered community service and failed to report to his probation officer. According to Sportico, Telfair has now been ordered to report to prison on August 12th and will serve six months behind bars for his actions. The outlet claim that U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni told Telfair: 'You thumbed your nose at your probation officer and me over and over'. The outlet further claim that, in a hearing on Thursday, Telfair told officials that 'things' were 'stacked against' him claimed he sometimes gets 'stuck in the mud'. He later acknowledged that that he missed his appointments with the probation officer and offered an apology. However, judge Caproni was not convinced over Telfair's claims and insisted that he had done 'absolutely nothing' to help his case. Telfair, meanwhile, has a previous criminal record with two separate gun charges - with the most recent being in 2017 when Telfair was found with weapons and marijuana during a traffic stop in Brooklyn. The case went to trial and in 2019, he was found guilty of felonious weapons possession and sentenced to three years in prison. Telfair was initially tipped as one of the NBA's most exciting prospects when he broke into the league back in 2004 but things didn't turn out as expected for the Lincoln High graduate. After struggling during two years at Portland, he went on to become one of the league's notorious journeymen after also suiting up for the Clippers, Suns, Raptors, Timberwolves and more.
The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
WWE legend Ric Flair asks for fan's prayers in worrying health update during cancer fight
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair has bravely asked for "prayers" after sharing a concerning health update with his fans. The wrestling icon revealed that his skin cancer was back for the second time last month. Flair later shared a post ensuring that he was "on the mend", but it now appears that his health has taken another turn. On Monday, Flair shared a brief message on social media along with a picture that left some fans worried. The 76-year-old posted a selfie and a picture of his stomach - which appeared to have a number of sutures in from a previous surgery. Taking to X, he wrote: "Surgery coming up. Keep me in your prayers. It's all fragile." It's unclear whether the latest health update is related to his ongoing battle with skin cancer. The 'Nature Boy' is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers with his daughter, Charlotte, following in his footsteps. He first declared his retirement in 2008 after losing to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24, but has frequently returned in rare appearances. 5 5 5 In the years since, Flair has tragically suffered with a number of significant health issues. In 2017, the 16-time WWE champion was in a coma for 11 days and reportedly near death after his intestine ruptured. Inside Ric Flair's amazing love life A few hours later, Flair suffered early stages of kidney failure and came close to congestive heart failure as a result of alcohol abuse. Flair's family were told he only had 20 per cent odds of surviving while he was put in a medically induced coma. The former Intercontinental Champion's doctors later removed part of his bowel and inserted a pacemaker as he regained consciousness. Flair is the only WWE superstar to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice. He was first inducted in 2008 for his individual career, before making it again four years later as a member of The Four Horsemen. The North Carolina native continued to wrestle well into his 60s and made an appearance at 2019's Wrestlemania 35. His son Reid tragically died of a drug overdose in 2013. 5
