The Chrisleys’ Unscripted Year: Reality TV Family Faces Real-Life Drama
The Chrisley family from “Chrisley Knows Best” and “Growing Up Chrisley” has had a tumultuous year, dealing with unscripted drama far more intense than any TV episode. Todd and Julie Chrisley have been facing the fallout from their convictions in June of bank fraud and tax evasion, and it has left some of their family members struggling. Daughter Savannah has been open about the effect it has had on her. And Kyle, Todd’s son from his marriage to ex Teresa Terry, has had his own run-in with the law.
Here’s a breakdown of the Chrisleys’ real-life drama so far in 2023, starting with the latest:
March 14: Kyle Chrisley is arrested for aggravated assault
Kyle Chrisley was booked March 14 for alleged assault, a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest. According to the police report, Chrisley’s supervisor at Penske Truck Rental alleged that Kyle had “assaulted him by striking him multiple times in the face and upper body” and “displayed a fixed blade knife and threatened to kill/stab him.” Witnesses corroborated that story. Bail was set at $3,000, and he was briefly jailed before being released. March 28 is the date of his court hearing.
Feb. 21: Savannah says the family plans to document life after Todd and Julie’s conviction on a new reality show
Savannah regularly shares updates on her parents on her podcast, “Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley”. On the Jan. 30 episode, she said her mom was keeping busy attending church, working, and beating her fellow inmates at Spades. She offered the latest on Todd, too.
“He is working in the chapel, which is absolutely amazing, and I could never be more proud of my dad and the man that he is,” Savannah said.
But some reports are rockier than others, as Savannah has admitted struggling with missing Todd and Julie, and having to adapt to parenting both niece Chloe and her younger brother, 16-year-old Grayson, since her parents are gone.
With all these ups and downs, Savannah revealed on the Feb. 21 episode of her podcast that her family is “talking to a few production companies about doing another show,” which would document their lives while Todd and Julie are behind bars.
Jan. 17: Todd and Julie Chrisley report to prison
Seven months after Todd and Julie received guilty verdicts, they headed to their respective prisons to serve 12 years at the Federal Correctional Institution Pensacola in Florida (him) and seven years at the Federal Medical Center Lexington in Lexington, Ky. (her). While Julie had originally been assigned to a facility in Florida, too, she ended up being sent to a facility for inmates requiring medical or mental health care.
Savannah later explained just how devastated her parents had been to hear that they had lost their trial.
“I will never forget when they stood up to read the verdicts and it was like, guilty, guilty, guilty, like over and over and over again,” Savannah said on the March 14 episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast. “And I just saw the looks on my parents’ faces and … just everything, they were just in tears.”
When the reality stars were convicted, prosecutors said they had dodged taxes since as early as 2009, and that they had attempted to hide their millions of earnings from their TV show from the government. Meanwhile, the Chrisleys also were found to have inflated their net worth and sought loans from smaller lenders, which do less vetting than the larger ones, in order to secure more than $30 million in fraudulent loans.
The Chrisleys’ real-life drama has been a difficult and trying time for the family. While they may have become famous thanks to their reality TV shows, this year has shown that even the most scripted of families can suffer from real-life drama.
