SHOCKING TURN as Todd and Julie Chrisley land NEW REALITY SERIES while facing PRISON TIME—now a potential PARDON could erase everything and fans are torn between justice and celebrity privilege

Just when it seemed their story had ended behind bars, Todd and Julie Chrisley are staging a jaw-dropping return to television. Despite their convictions for federal bank fraud and tax evasion, the couple is now set to star in a new Lifetime series created by the team behind Surviving R. Kelly. But what’s really sparking outrage is the growing buzz that they could soon receive a full pardon. Could this be the ultimate comeback—or a dangerous rewriting of consequences?

Dive into the controversy and decide for yourself why this story is dividing fans everywhere.

Donald Trump and Todd and Julie Chrisley Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images; Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images

Donald Trump has shared his plans to issue full pardons to reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were serving years-long prison sentences after being convicted of federal bank fraud and tax evasion charges.

Margo Martin, the president’s special assistant and communications adviser, announced the news on Tuesday with a video of Trump on a phone call with Todd and Julie’s children, Savannah and Grayson Chrisley.

“It’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. Is that OK?” Trump can be heard saying to Savannah and Grayson while sitting in the Oval Office. “I don’t know them, but give them my regards.”

Harrison Fields, the principal deputy press secretary and special assistant to the president, confirmed Trump’s plan to pardon the Chrisleys in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“The President is always pleased to give well-deserving Americans a second chance, especially those who have been unfairly targeted and overly prosecuted by an unjust justice system,” Fields said. “President Trump called Savannah and her brother from the Oval Office to personally inform them that he would be pardoning their parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, whose sentences were far too harsh.”

Todd and Julie were found guilty on federal charges including bank fraud and tax evasion in June 2022. The couple was later sentenced in November of the same year, with Todd receiving 12 years in prison plus 16 months of probation, while Julie Chrisley got seven years behind bars and 16 months of probation. Both are currently serving their sentences.

Savannah took to her Instagram on Tuesday after receiving the call from Trump. “The president called me personally as I was walking into Sam’s Club and notified me that was signing pardon paperwork for both of my parents,” she said in the video. “So, both my parents are coming home tonight or tomorrow and I still don’t believe it’s real. I’m freaking out. The fact that the president called me, I will forever be grateful for President Trump, his administration and everyone along the way.”

The Chrisleys shot to prominence via their USA Network show Chrisley Knows Best, which spotlighted their family and has mostly starred Todd, Julie, their daughter Savannah, their elder son Chase, their youngest son Grayson, and Chloe, the biological daughter of eldest son Kyle, who was adopted in 2016.

After her parents went away to serve their time, Savannah gained custody of both Grayson and Chloe. She has notably “been fighting tirelessly for a presidential pardon to free her parents,” and spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention where she said that “due to our public profile and conservative beliefs, they accused my parents of fraud when really we were defrauded by a dishonest business partner.”

The announcement from the president comes almost a week after Lifetime announced the family’s return to reality TV. The Untitled Chrisleys Project will be “pulling back the curtain” on the Chrisleys’ “unprecedented access to their lives in a deeply personal and dramatic new series.”

Notably, both Chase and Savannah are executive producers on the new series that hails from Bunim/Murray, the same entity behind Surviving R. Kelly, The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Confessions of Octomom.