Recently-pardoned reality star Todd Chrisley is advocating for better treatment of Black prisoners.
Chrisley, the star of Chrisley Knows Best and its spin-offs, opened up during a press conference in Nashville on Friday, claiming that he saw Black inmates receive disparate treatment.
“Anyone that says it’s a fair shake, it's not," he said. "I dealt with young African American males in the prison that I was in that were not treated the same. They were denied programming. They were denied access to certain things.”
“I was not denied that, but we know why I wasn’t denied and so I think that’s a much bigger picture that we all as a society, as a whole, need to look at — that we are one,” he continued.
Chrisley and his wife Julie were recently pardoned by President Donald Trump after they were sentenced in 2022 for tax evasion and defrauding banks of more than $36 million. During the conference, he proclaimed his innocence despite both being convicted and having the conviction affirmed on appeal.
"Whether you believe it or not — because I was you at some point — even though this pardon has happened, I still was convicted of something that I did not do," Todd said. "It could be you. It could be you, it could be any of you. And somewhere in this room, someone has had a family member that has been affected by the system."
"I understand the shame that’s around it, but I refuse to feed into that because shame is like a cancer that just spreads and I have no shame," he added.
Chrisley’s daughter Savannah announced that the reality star and his wife will be returning to reality television with a new show that has already begun filming.
"It's honestly felt like a dream to have them at home," said Savannah.
