Ryan Coleman is a news writer for Entertainment Weekly with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.
Todd Chrisley and his son Chase are opening up about their reactions to a set of bombshell allegations dropped by Lindsie Chrisley, Todd's daughter from a previous marriage, in a 2019 Dr. Phil interview.
Even before Lindsie, who now goes by Lindsie Landsman, alleged to host Phil McGraw that her father and half brother had obtained a sex tape and several of her nude pictures with the intent to weaponize them as blackmail, Todd knew the relationship had gone sour. In the final episode of Lifetime's new series The Chrisleys: Back to Reality, Todd claimed that when the legal trouble that ultimately led to his and wife Julie Chrisley's federal prison sentences began, his attorney notified him that a source of incriminating information was potentially closer to home than he'd like to believe.
"He said this originated from Mike Braddock, and Kyle and Lindisie," he recalled, naming an ex business partner, as well as his own two children with ex Teresa Terry. "It's like someone, like all the air had just left the room."
Lindsie has long denied involvement in the case against her father and stepmother. But the shock for Todd didn't stop there.
"I remember sitting in a restaurant in Charleston, S.C., and getting a phone call. I walked outside because he identified himself as a police officer," Todd shared. "Within three minutes I realized that [Lindsie] had filed a police report saying that Chase and I were blackmailing her with a sex tape."
The allegations didn't stay private, as Lindsie aired them out on an episode of Dr. Phil that aired in Oct. 2019, two months after a federal grand jury indicted Todd and Julie on 12 counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
In the interview, Lindsie claimed that her father previously asked to meet with her in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he first insinuated that she had an inappropriate relationship with an IRS official. Lindsie denied the claim, shooting back about "the social media stuff I've endured for two years from you and your two minion children," referring to Chase and Savannah Chrisley.
"That's when I got the warning that Chase had incriminating evidence against me," Lindsie claimed on the talk show episode. "Nude photos, and [he'd] obtained this tape for $5,000. At that point the conversation was over for me, and my attorney encouraged me to file a police report."
Lindsie and Kyle were once tight with the core of the Chrisley family that the reality series Chrisley Knows Best launched to fame in 2014. They both appeared on the series' first season, and Lindsie returned for subsequent appearances through season 5. But unspecified family tensions, combined with a conflagration between Lindsie and Julie led to her sudden departure, and a feud that Savannah previously claimed on Back to Reality may never be resolved.
On his new reality show, Todd called back to the "social media stuff" Lindsie mentioned in the Dr. Phil interview as a reason why his daughter may have hardened in her feelings for him. "I had posted some tweets that I shouldn't have. Looking back as a parent, I should have been better... but when you're that hurt, you strike back out of hurt," he shared.
Some of the posts excerpted in Back to Reality included Todd writing on Sept. 13, 2017, "Like mother like daughter , once a cheater always a cheater , once a liar always a liar . #truthmaycostyouyourchild #itscomingout #glovesoff."
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But according to Todd, "Nobody's ever had a conversation with her about a sex tape, ever," and that in fact, the alleged tape "never existed."
A representative for Lindsie Chrisley did not respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.
Chase also denied his involvement in the alleged blackmail scheme. "Dude, first of all, I wouldn't want any sex tape out there of anybody in my family. I've never purchased a sex tape of her never seen a sex tape of her, don't want to see a sex tape of her. So, I mean, it's just a lie."
Lindsie later recanted her claim that Todd approached her about the sex tape, alleging instead that a former friend told her they tried to sell an apparent tape to Chase.
In the final episode of Back to Reality, Todd read from the transcript of Lindsie's testimony at his and wife Julie's criminal trial, in which she stated she no longer believes the allegations pertaining to the sex tape are true.
Still, Chase said the wounds have already been inflicted, and aren't likely to heal soon. "You put that stuff out there it's out there forever."