Chrisley Knows Best alum Todd Chrisley just spoke out about one major aspect of his pardon from President Donald Trump. The reality TV star and his wife, Julie Chrisley, faced charges relating to tax evasion, wire fraud and bank fraud in 2019.
A jury of their peers determined they were guilty of every charge, and they were sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, behind bars. Todd and Julie were released from prison in May 2025 after receiving pardons from Trump.
Now Todd has broken his silence about whether Trump signed the pardon himself or used an autopen, a practice that has been the topic of many discussions in recent months. On his podcast, Chrisley Confessions 2.0, he claimed that his and Julie’s pardons were “not autopenned.“
Chrisley patriarch Todd said that he’s seen “a lot of stuff on the news” about the use of autopens, so he wanted to come out and make it clear that Trump “signed ours and he was awake.”
“I will also say that something I’m really grateful for is that it is on camera, on video that President Trump signed our pardons. It was not autopenned. So I just want to make sure that everyone knows that my s*** was signed…I’m just trying to put it out there. I saw a lot of stuff on the news about this autopen shit, so I’m just letting you know that he signed ours and he was awake.”
This appeared to be a reference to Trump’s “Sleepy Joe” nickname for President Joe Biden, even though Trump himself has been caught on camera several times in recent months with his eyes closed during public events.
Trump has criticized Biden’s use of the autopen. However, every modern president, including Trump himself, has used the procedure multiple times.
The Chrisley family became famous via their first reality show, Chrisley Knows Best, which aired for 10 seasons from 2014 to 2023. The show was still on the air at the time of Todd and Julie’s trial, which took place in 2022.
After the jury determined their guilt, Judge Eleanor Ross revealed that in addition to prison time, the couple also had to pay back $17.8 million to the banks they defrauded. Around this time, USA canceled Chrisley Knows Best and spinoff Growing Up Chrisley.
In January 2023, Todd and Julie started serving their respective sentences behind bars, with the final season of Chrisley Knows Best airing shortly after that in February and March.
Todd and Julie’s daughter Savannah Chrisley took it upon herself to lead the charge to free her parents. She worked behind the scenes, which included reaching out to the White House, and held news conferences to update the public on her mission.
Even though Chrisley Knows Best was over, the wealthy family wasn’t done with reality TV just yet. They signed a deal for a new series, which started out by following Savannah, her brothers Chase and Grayson, their grandmother Nanny Faye and other members of the family as they dealt with the aftermath of their parents going to prison.
After Trump issued his pardon of the Chrisleys, cameras were rolling to capture the exact moments Todd and Julie were released from prison and reunited with their kids.
The footage was revealed on The Chrisleys: Back to Reality, which aired in September 2025. The reality series showed Todd continuing to play the victim by adamantly denying he and Julie did anything wrong, even though a jury of their peers proved otherwise.
Pardons are typically an admission of guilt, as the Supreme Court ruled back in 1915 during the Burdick v. United States case.
The Chrisley Knows Best stars plan to stay in the world of reality TV, but to what extent is unclear at the moment. What is certain is that Todd will continue speaking out about what his family has gone through.
