Savannah Chrisley has responded to rumors that she had an inappropriate relationship with someone influential to secure a pardon for her parents, Todd and Julie, from President Donald Trump this week.
During a press conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, the reality TV star, 27, addressed the accusations and defended her relentless efforts to help her parents.
‘Obviously the biggest misconception right now is that I either paid for a pardon or slept for a pardon,’ she said to a hoard of media outlets.
“That’s the biggest misconception right now, and if people knew the countless hours, money, and time I spent going to D.C. without even having a meeting scheduled, just getting on a plane, determined to be in the right room at the right time and meet the right people…” she explained.
Chrisley emphasized, ‘I fought hard, and I was exhausted, and I begged for meetings. I was never too good to ask.’
Savannah Chrisley has responded to claims that she ‘slept’ with someone with power to get het parents Todd and Julie pardoned by President Donald Trump this week
During a press conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, the reality television personality, 27, slammed critics and defended her persistent efforts to free her mom and dad; Julie and Todd pictured in 2019
The Unlocked with Savannah podcaster stressed, ‘That’s the thing, is people think, “Oh, you’re a celebrity, you’re white, you have money,” that we got an upper hand, and we didn’t.’
She reiterated, ‘I had to fight, and I was relentless, and that’s how it happened.’
Todd, 56, who had been serving time for bank fraud and tax evasion before his release, also spoke out during the conference.
He admitted to being unsure if fame played a part in his and his wife’s pardon.
‘That’s not something that you can look at and say, “Well, that had nothing to do with it,”‘ he said candidly.
During the meeting with media he also praised Savannah’s tireless campaign to free her parents.
‘Watching it all unfold, and listening to what she said, what was coming up next, and and just being consumed with pride while at the same time knowing that this is a long shot — because so many people are told no — and being in that, being in the prison system, anyone that says that it’s a fair shake, it’s not,’ the former Chrisley Knows Best star explained.
Reflecting on his time behind bars, he added, ‘I dealt with young African-American males in the prison that I was in that were not treated the same. They were not.
‘They were denied programming. They were denied access to certain things I was not denied.’
‘Obviously the biggest misconception right now is that I either paid for a pardon or slept for a pardon,’ Savannah said to a hoard of media outlets while standing alongside her father
During his appearance, Todd was asked by journalists whether he feels any remorse over his conviction, to which he firmly hit back.
‘I would have remorse if it was something that I did,’ he said. ‘The corruption that went on in our case is going to continue to unfold.’
Former USA Network stars Todd and Julie were both convicted in 2022 for orchestrating a $30 million bank fraud and tax evasion scheme and had been serving multi-year prison terms.
Julie was sentenced to serve in Kentucky until 2028 and Todd in Florida until 2032.
But on Tuesday, President Trump personally called their daughter to inform her of his bombshell decision to grant the couple clemency.
Also during the high-profile press conference, the Chrisleys revealed that they already have a new reality television series in the works.
Todd said he and his wife ‘started filming literally the night that we got home’ for a forthcoming Lifetime program.
Former USA Network stars Todd and Julie were both convicted in 2022 for orchestrating a $30 million bank fraud and tax evasion scheme and had been serving multi-year prison terms; pictured in 2018
The Chrisleys rose to fame on their Chrisley Knows Best show on USA Network, which premiered in 2014
Savannah added: ‘I think with this new series, you will see the first time he and mom see each other [after their respective prison releases].’
Before her parents were pardoned, Savannah and her siblings had been filming a series detailing how they were coping while their parents were detained.
She said: ‘We obviously… we had been filming, and we had just wrapped filming for all intents and purposes and then we get the call that they had been pardoned, so we picked right back up.
‘And we’re excited because I think this new show is going to give… first off, it’s gonna give people a look into the trial and things that we went through and we’re gonna set the record straight, put some documents out there.’
