Todd Chrisley addresses Julie Chrisley's 'dark' hair and post-prison appearance
Julie referenced a "horrible" viral picture of her with graying, darker hair — a shift from her famous blonde locks that paired well with the fair-haired family's rise to reality TV infamy — as her husband claimed that she "set the bar low, there was nowhere to go but up."
Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley released from prison after Trump signs pardon
He added "when I first saw you when I got out of that car, I started thinking about going back, but then I thought, let me embrace this — this is a moment." Julie replied, "Are you kidding me, right now?" when Todd admitted "it was a rough moment because I had never seen you dark in my life."
Julie then said, "I know that, Todd, but I didn't have any choice." The Chrisley's jabs at each other were well documented and helped them gain a loyal following on their USA Network show "Chrisley Knows Best," which ran for 10 seasons from 2014 to 2023.
In June 2022, the Chrisleys — who portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons in the South — were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks in Atlanta out of more than $36 million in fraudulent loans, defraud the IRS and commit tax evasion. Julie was additionally convicted of obstruction of justice and wire fraud.
In late May, Trump shared that he was pardoning the couple in a conversation from the White House with their middle daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who long advocated for their release and spoke last summer at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump confessed ear injury was ‘not too bad' at RNC despite wearing oversized bandage, Congressman says
Donald Trump allegedly confessed to GOP colleagues that his ear injury was 'not too bad' at the Republican National Convention, despite wearing his infamous oversized bandage. The then-presidential nominee told Byron Donalds that doctors had advised him to keep the bandage on, the Florida Congressman said, speaking at a GOP conference over the weekend. Trump arrived at the convention in July 2024 wearing the bandage, two days after surviving an attempted assassination while out campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania, during which a bullet clipped his right ear. Many convention goers decided to mimic the look in solidarity, also sporting bandages of their own. However, Donalds recalled, Trump himself was unenthused about his medical head accessory when the pair met shortly after his convention speech. "I see the bandage, and the second thing [Trump says] is 'what do you think of the bandage?'" Donalds said. "I said, 'I don't like it. Take it off.' That's what I said. 'I don't like it. Take it off.' I said 'let everybody see the ear.'' "He was like, 'you know, it's not too bad. It's not too bad'..."Doc Ronny [Jackson] says, I gotta wear the bandage." 'I'm like 'so what? You're the president just take the thing off,' Donalds added. The president's bandage became the inspiration for many at the RNC, with one Arizona delegate Joe Neglia describing it at the time as 'the newest fashion trend.' 'Everybody in the world is going to be wearing these pretty soon,' Neglia told CBS, while sporting a piece of white tape over his own ear. 'When he came in [to the convention], and there was that eruption of love in the room, I thought, 'what can I do to honor the truth? What can I possibly do?'' 'And then I saw the bandage and I thought, I can do that. So, I put it on simply to honor Trump and to express sympathy with him and unity with him.' At a rally shortly after the convention, Trump appeared to have downgraded his ear bandage, instead sporting a skin-colored band-aid covering the top part of his right ear.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
In pardoning reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, Trump taps into a sense of persecution felt by his conservative Christian base
President Donald Trump has never met Todd Chrisley, the reality TV star that he pardoned on May 27, 2025, along with Chrisley's wife, Julie. But the pair have much in common. Both are admired by their fans for their brash personas and salty ripostes. Both enjoy lavish lifestyles: Trump is known for his real estate deals and rococo White House redecoration, and Chrisley for his entrepreneurial skill and acquisitions of sprawling properties. Quick-tempered tycoons, they live large and keep score – especially when people cross them. And maybe most importantly, both have run into legal trouble with Georgia prosecutors. In 2019, The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia indicted the Chrisleys for fraud and tax evasion, and the Fulton County district attorney filed charges against Trump in 2023. In 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were tried in Fulton County, found guilty and sentenced to 12- and seven-year sentences, respectively. A year later, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump as part of an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, a case that's currently in limbo. After the Chrisleys went to prison, their daughter Savannah began campaigning for their release. Her efforts to win over prominent conservatives – including her outspoken support for Trump – led to a prime-time appearance at the 2024 Republican National Convention. 'My family has been persecuted by rogue prosecutors due to our public profile and conservative beliefs,' she told the delegates and a television audience of 15 million viewers. Turning an insult into an accolade, she claimed prosecutors had called them the 'Trumps of the South.' Her framing of her parents' imprisonment aligns with Trump's broader campaign narrative of victimization, redemption and retribution, which critics say he has continued to promote and carry out during his second term. Preaching perfection Like Trump, who starred on 'The Apprentice' for 11 years, the Chrisleys had their own reality television show. 'Chrisley Knows Best' aired on USA Network from 2014 to 2023. I'm familiar with the Chrisleys because I wrote about Todd in a 2018 book I co-edited on religion and reality television. The show was particularly popular among viewers in their 30s, who were fascinated by the Chrisleys' extravagant lifestyle and Todd's over-the-top personality. The self-proclaimed 'patriarch of perfection,' Todd flew twice a month to Los Angeles from Atlanta, and later Nashville, to have his hair cut and highlighted. He spoke freely about using Botox and invited viewers into his room-size closet where his clothes were organized by color. No matter the time of day, Todd was camera-ready: buffed, manicured and dressed in designer clothes. The family enjoyed all the trappings of success: fancy cars, a palatial home and expensive vacations. Yet, in almost every episode, Todd made clear that his life, and theirs by extension, centered on family, religion and responsibility. In fact, many episodes revolved around Todd's efforts to promote these values through his parenting lessons. On the one hand, Todd tried to teach responsibility and the value of hard work to his five children. On the other hand, he bribed and cajoled them into doing what he wanted. Todd seemed to have it both ways: His strictness and traditional values appealed to Christian viewers, but his sass and cussing won over secular audiences. Yet sometimes his words rang hollow. Todd talked a lot about work, but viewers rarely saw him at a job. He frequently quoted the Bible, but audiences seldom saw him in church. He extolled family, but a few years into the series, his two older children, Lindsie and Kyle, disappeared from the show. In 2023, the series disappeared, too. By then, the Chrisleys were in prison. Trump knows best On the day of his inauguration, when Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of the roughly 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, he vowed to 'take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to the weaponization of law enforcement.' According to the president, the imprisonment of Todd and Julie Chrisley and his pardoning of them is just that. 'Your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope that we can do it by tomorrow,' Trump told Savannah Chrisley in a recorded phone conversation. 'They've been given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I'm hearing.' Trump's pardons, which have freed a number of conservatives convicted of fraud, may stem from his belief that he and many others have been falsely accused and persecuted by the elite, liberal establishment. But the pardons also strike home for his right-wing religious supporters, many of whom think that Democrats will do anything to quash their faith, including using the justice system to specifically target Christians. 'We live in a nation founded on freedom, liberty and justice for all. Justice is supposed to be blind. But today, we have a two-faced justice system,' Savannah Chrisley said during her RNC speech. 'Look at what they are doing to countless Christians and conservatives that the government has labeled them extremists or even worse.' While those claims have been disputed, eradicating anti-Christian bias, at home and abroad, has nevertheless become a centerpiece of Trump's policies during his second term. The lawyers who prosecuted the Chrisleys had a different perspective. They called Todd and Julie 'career swindlers who have made a living by jumping from one fraud scheme to another, lying to banks, stiffing vendors and evading taxes at every corner,' and whose reputations were 'based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work.' The couple were ultimately found guilty of defrauding Atlanta-area banks of US$36 million by using falsified papers to apply for mortgages, obtaining false loans to repay older loans, and not repaying those loans. They also were convicted of hiding their true income from the IRS and owing $500,000 in back taxes. At his sentencing, Todd said that he intended to pay it all back. At a press conference after his pardon, he said he was convicted for something he did not do. In the days since their release, the Chrisleys announced they were filming a new reality show, which will air on Lifetime. The series will focus on the couple's legal struggles, imprisonment, pardon and reunification. Thanks to the constitutional protections of the presidency, Trump's reelection has shielded him from ongoing federal criminal prosecution. And now, thanks to the stroke of Trump's pen, the 'Trumps of the South' are back in business, too. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Diane Winston, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Read more: How the gladiators inspired evangelicals' sense of persecution Trump's Jan. 6 pardon order 'flies in the face of the facts' of violent insurrection, retired federal judge explains Fulton County charges Donald Trump with racketeering, other felonies – a Georgia election law expert explains 5 key things to know Diane Winston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
New York Post
3 days ago
- New York Post
Savannah Chrisley skewers sister Lindsie: ‘We're no longer family, lose our last name'
Savannah Chrisley is unlocking her truth. The trailer for the 27-year-old and her family's new reality series, 'The Chrisleys: Back to Reality,' dropped on Thursday, in which she highlights the estrangement between their brood. The Lifetime show, which premieres on Sept 1, will follow Savannah, her parents, Todd and Julie, and two of her brothers, Chase, Grayson, and Chloe (whom Todd and Julie adopted in 2016). Nanny Faye will also be back, along with Julie's parents, Harvey and Pam Hughes. Advertisement 9 Savannah Chrisley slams her sister Lindsie in her new reality show. Lifetime The project will highlight Todd, 56, and Julie, 52, navigating life after they 'are eventually pardoned, released from prison and return home.' And they are not holding back. In the five-minute trailer, the Chrisleys detail having their 'own family members betray' them. Advertisement 'The prosecutor read the letter Lindsie wrote to the FBI. We're no longer family, lose our last name,' Savannah said of her older sister. 9 Savannah Chrisley opens up about her relationship with Lindsie Chrisley. Lifetime 'I mean, if your own blood will screw you over, then a stranger definitely will,' Chase, 29, added. 'This family's been torn apart. Because it was always like this and now it's like this,' Nanny Faye explained. Advertisement Todd and Julie were indicted in 2019, with federal prosecutors accusing them of submitting fake documents to banks in order to garner more than $30 million in loans. In 2022, the couple was found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion. 9 Documents from Lindsie Chrisley speaking with the FBI. Lifetime Todd received a 12-year prison sentence, while Julie was sentenced to seven years. The pair has maintained their innocence. 'With my parents gone, our household is completely divided,' Savannah said in the trailer. 'I told my parents I don't know if it can ever be repaired, honestly.' Advertisement Despite Lindsie, 35, being on the outs with her family, she gave a subtle nod to her dad and stepmom after it was announced they were being pardoned by President Donald Trump in May. 9 Lindsie Chrisley is at odds with her parents as seen in documents. Lifetime Lindsie, whom Todd shares with his first wife, Teresa Terry, wrote on her Instagram Stories, 'With God all things are possible.' The podcast host previously starred alongside her family in 20 episodes of their 10-season reality show, 'Chrisley Knows Best.' Last month, Lindsie revealed she decided to drop her surname and go by her boyfriend's last name instead. 9 Lindsie Chrisley on Instagram. lindsiechrisley/Instagram After eagle-eyed fans noticed the mom-of-one changed her name on Instagram to 'Lindsie Landsman,' she detailed the reason why. 'For a long time, I very much battled with carrying my maiden last name, and with me carrying that last name came public association,' she explained to listeners on her 'Southern Tea' podcast. Advertisement Lindsie added that the popular moniker came with 'assumptions of all different kinds, weight that I truly feel like I never asked for.' 9 Lindsie Chrisley poses with her son Jackson on Instagram. lindsiechrisley/Instagram 'And I do think it's fair to say that contrary to what some people believe, the Chrisley last name, while it did start with 'Chrisley Knows Best' — and we all collectively were doing that project together — outside of that, that last name did not create income or opportunity for me,' she continued. Lindsie admitted the last name 'became very problematic with me being associated in any capacity, in business, and has been problematic for projects that I have done post-'Chrisley Knows Best.'' Advertisement Now, the star is going by a name that feels right. 9 Savannah Chrisley with her dad Todd. savannahchrisley/Instagram 9 Savannah Chrisley gives a press conference. AP 'You know, the big question is: 'Are David and I married?' And we are not married,' expressed Lindsie. 'I feel that it is fair to say that he and I built a safe and loving relationship that allows for stability in my life and in Jackson's life, and in this chapter, that name feels like home to me.' Advertisement This isn't the first time, however, that the Chrisleys' drama has played out publicly. In 2023, Lindsie gave insight into her fractured relationship with Todd and Julie. 'There were some rumors that went around after our last podcast episode that the reason that I have not seen Julie was because she doesn't want to see me, and that is just untrue,' she said on her podcast. 'Finally, I have been able to communicate over [her prison's] form of email for the first time, but also her email is very delayed. Dad's is very different. You can send him an email and you will hear back within maybe two hours.' 9 'Chrisley Knows Best' cast. Tommy Garcia/USA Network Advertisement A year later, Lindsie confessed that her relationship with Savannah is 'nothing.' 'It's mind-blowing to me, the control and manipulation. It very much alarms me, and I'm just going to leave it at that,' she stated.
