Chrisley Knows Best stars Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley said the biological mother of their adopted granddaughter Chloe has “no rights” to her. Their comments on the latest episode of Chrisley Confessions came after Chloe’s mother, Angela Johnson, told TMZ she wants to regain custody of Chloe. Todd and Julie were both convicted of tax fraud and were sentenced to 12 and seven years in prison, respectively.
Todd said it was “ironic” that Johnson is now asking for custody because she has not been part of Chloe’s life since 2015. After she surrendered parental rights in 2017, they never heard from her again, Todd claimed, via Entertainment Tonight. Chloe is “legally our child,” Todd said.
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“We will be the ones who decide, if and when the time comes, as to who will be her caregiver,” Todd said. “We’re not going to discuss who that’s going to be, because we don’t owe that to the world and that’s our private matter. At the end of the day, Chloe’s family is who Chloe has been raised with.”
Despite having to report to jail soon, Todd said he and Julie will keep Cloe’s life as “unaltered” as possible. “Chloe is a very bright, intelligent, charismatic, funny, beautiful child, who has a heart of compassion,” the former reality star said. “Her life is going to be as unaltered as it possibly can be based on what Julie and I have the ability to control.”
Johnson “literally surrendered her rights to her child” in court, Todd said. “Just so the record is very, very clear, Angela Johnson has no rights to Chloe. Her rights were terminated. She has been legally adopted,” he later said.
Todd then claimed he and Julie tried to have a relationship with Johnson by offering her housing, a car, and money for nursing school. He claimed he did give her money for nursing classes, but she never completed them. “She was just using us for the money,” he said.
Todd accused Johnson of rarely being there for Chloe during the brief period when they shared custody of her daughter. “Angela terminated her rights voluntarily,” Todd said. “She was threatened. She wasn’t coerced. And then for me to see… that she’s now trying to squeeze out five minutes of fame out of herself to put herself back out here. What she needs to do is spend more time trying to find a better wig and less time trying to go out here and get more time on the camera.”
Lastly, Todd threatened to release communications he had with Johnson in a direct message to her. “You have had no relationship with Chloe,” Todd said. “She does not have any relationship with you. You’ve never reached out to talk to her. You’ve never sent her a Christmas gift or a birthday gift. You’ve never done anything for her.”
Earlier this month, Johnson told TMZ she wants custody of Chloe since the Chrisleys were sentenced to prison. She claimed she was already “in the process” of getting Chloe back and was already working with a legal team. In November, Todd and Julie’s eldest daughter Savannah Chrisley said on her Unlocked podcast that she wanted to get custody of Chloe and her 16-year-old brother Grayson.
