The Chrisley Sex Tape Scandal: Blackmail, Betrayal, and Legal Fallout
Background: The Chrisley Family’s Legal Turmoil
The Chrisley family – known from the reality TV show Chrisley Knows Best – has been embroiled in serious legal trouble in recent years. Patriarch Todd Chrisley and his wife Julie Chrisley were indicted in August 2019 on multiple federal charges including bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. In June 2022, a jury convicted them on all counts; by November 2022 they received a combined 19-year prison sentence (Todd was ordered to serve 12 years, Julie 7). The Chrisleys’ fraud was staggering – they were found to have defrauded banks of an estimated $30 million and hidden income from the IRS. Todd and Julie have consistently maintained their innocence, blaming a former employee for framing them, but the guilty verdict and hefty sentences speak volumes about the scope of their crimes.
Even before the convictions, the family’s public image of wealth and Southern gentility was crumbling. Todd’s estranged eldest daughter, Lindsie Chrisley, had distanced herself from the family in 2017 amid what she describes as “constant target of lies, harassment and threats” from her father and stepfamily. As federal investigators closed in on Todd and Julie, a far more disturbing family scandal began to surface: allegations that Todd and Lindsie’s half-brother Chase Chrisley attempted to blackmail Lindsie with a sex tape in order to pressure her into lying to authorities. What followed was a true-crime saga of alleged extortion within the family – complete with FBI reports, court filings, and explosive accusations that would later be cited by prosecutors as evidence of witness tampering.
The Alleged Sex Tape and Extortion Plot Emerges
In July 2019 – about one month before the Chrisley parents were federally indicted – Lindsie Chrisley went to the authorities in Georgia with alarming claims about her father and brother. On July 16, 2019, she filed an incident report with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, asserting that Todd and Chase were trying to coerce her into covering up Todd’s financial crimes. According to the official police report, Lindsie said “there is an ongoing issue with her family threatening and harassing her.” She told the deputy that her step-brother (Chase) “claimed to have purchased a sex tape involving Lindsie” and that her father and brother warned they would release it if she refused to lie about an incident. In other words, the two men allegedly tried to blackmail Lindsie with her own intimate video to force her to commit perjury on Todd’s behalf – a shocking claim that, if true, suggests a criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice within the family.
Official Police Report (Cherokee County, GA, 07/16/2019): “Lindsie stated she recently learned her stepbrother who lives out of state claimed to have purchased a sex tape involving Lindsie. Lindsie stated her father and stepbrother wanted her to lie about an incident and if she refused to do so they were going to release the sex tape involving her.”
The “incident” Lindsie was being pressured to lie about was widely understood to be Todd’s financial misconduct case. In essence, Lindsie believed Todd and Chase wanted her to make false statements (or withhold the truth) to protect Todd from the looming tax evasion charges. She also reported ongoing harassment from her family, indicating this was not an isolated threat. Notably, Lindsie told the responding deputy she wasn’t even certain the sex tape truly existed, only that it “was possible” – underscoring that the threat itself was enough to terrify her, regardless of whether the tape was real. The Georgia sheriff’s office documented her complaint as a case of “terroristic threats,” but because some of the alleged harassment occurred in Tennessee (where Todd and Chase lived), local authorities ultimately did not pursue charges, citing jurisdictional issues. The case was eventually closed at the local level for lack of jurisdiction and actionable evidence, with Lindsie’s attorney explaining that it was being moved “to the feds” for further investigation.
Todd and Chase’s Response: Denials and Public Attacks
When Lindsie’s allegations became public in August 2019, Todd Chrisley and his son Chase vehemently denied any extortion attempt. In a statement provided to the press, Chase Chrisley said, “I love my sister and I don’t understand why she’s doing this… I am heartbroken over these false allegations… they are totally false”. Todd Chrisley, meanwhile, went on the offensive against Lindsie’s character. He issued a statement calling her claims “heartbreaking and shameful,” and then aired Lindsie’s alleged dirty laundry: Todd accused Lindsie (who was married at the time) of having “extramarital relationships with Robby Hayes and Josh Murray” – two former stars of The Bachelorette – and suggested the family had tried to keep those affairs private “for her sake”. Todd asserted that “she ran to the sheriff’s office to accuse her brother of buying a sex tape of her and Robby, which was a complete lie, and now she’s telling more lies about me”, adding that “although our hearts are broken, Lindsie is our daughter and we will always love her.”
Lindsie’s attorney, Musa Ghanayem, slammed Todd’s attempt to deflect blame onto Lindsie. In a scathing rebuttal, Ghanayem said they were “flabbergasted at the audacity” of Todd and Chase: “[They] are more focused on attacking my client rather than defending themselves against the allegations of criminal conduct… While it is not necessary to detail their repugnant actions, it is important to note that the allegations are of serious crimes against Lindsie.” He confirmed that Lindsie had officially reported “their acts” to law enforcement and vowed to cooperate fully with investigators. In short, Lindsie’s camp portrayed her as a victim of family betrayal and intimidation, while Todd cast her as a vindictive daughter making up stories and engaging in embarrassing behavior.
Adding to the spectacle, one of the men Todd name-dropped – Josh Murray, the former Bachelorette winner – publicly defended Lindsie and chastised Todd. Murray confirmed that he and Lindsie had been platonic friends for years and denied any affair. In a sharp rebuke to Todd, Josh Murray told Access that the Chrisleys “should probably focus on how not to be imprisoned for 30 years rather than spreading gossip to try and hurt their daughter”, pointedly noting the severe legal jeopardy Todd and Julie were in. This quote captured the gravity of the situation: while Todd attempted to shame Lindsie over personal matters, others saw his behavior as a desperate diversion from his own potential 30-year prison sentence.
FBI Investigation: “Truly Afraid” – Emails, Interviews, and No Tape Found
Lindsie’s extortion allegations did not end with the local police report. Given the interstate nature of the threats and their connection to a federal case, the matter caught the attention of federal authorities. By August 2019, the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta had opened an investigation into the alleged sex tape extortion plot. Lindsie and her attorneys began cooperating with federal prosecutors, turning over any evidence they had. Notably, Robby Hayes – the other man purportedly in the intimate video – also came forward with information. Robby Hayes told TMZ that he submitted a sworn affidavit, text message records, and other correspondence to the U.S. Attorney, which he believed “prove Todd’s son – and possibly Todd – were coercing Lindsie and Robby.” Hayes said he found the entire situation “frustrating” and hoped “all wrongdoings come to light”. He clarified that no deliberate sex tape was ever made – rather, he and Lindsie had “got caught on the security camera… a puppy camera” at a friend’s house during a consensual encounter. This aligns with Lindsie’s account that she never consented to any tape; it was essentially an accidental recording from a pet cam system.
Investigators took the claim seriously. In fact, FBI agents interviewed the owner of that “puppy cam,” who told them no such sex tape actually exists. If true, this means the entire extortion plot was based on a phantom – a rumor or fragment of video that someone claimed to have but never did. However, the lack of an actual video doesn’t diminish the severity of the alleged extortion; threatening someone with non-existent (but plausibly real) damaging material is still blackmail. And Lindsie truly believed her family had obtained this compromising footage of her.
According to communications later obtained by DailyMail, Lindsie was in a state of extreme fear as the drama unfolded. On August 13, 2019 – the same day Todd and Julie were indicted by a federal grand jury – Lindsie emailed an FBI contact to express alarm at her father and brother’s behavior. “There’s been some concerning things that Chase has been posting and I’m worried… maybe I’m just truly afraid, but this is insane,” Lindsie wrote in the email, clearly on edge. Later that month, she sat down for a formal interview with FBI agents at their Atlanta field office. In that interview (documented in an FBI 302 report), Lindsie recounted the full history of her falling-out with Todd and the events leading to the extortion claim. She described how, after years of estrangement, Todd unexpectedly reached out to her in late 2018 with an invitation to meet – which she accepted, hoping for a reconciliation.
The Chattanooga Meeting: Todd’s Warning
In early 2019, Lindsie drove to a restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee to meet Todd Chrisley, as recounted in her FBI interview. The atmosphere quickly turned unnerving. Todd oddly insisted that Lindsie leave her cell phone in the car before their conversation. Once inside, Todd dropped a bombshell: he told Lindsie that he was going to be indicted for financial crimes, it was going to be all over the news, and he questioned her directly about whether she had any involvement in turning him in. Lindsie became angry and defensive, denying she had anything to do with his indictment and telling Todd he “needed to stop” these accusations. She also demanded that he tell Chase to stop whatever scheme was brewing. At that, Todd issued a cryptic but chilling warning. According to Lindsie’s FBI statement, Todd told her “she needed to be careful with Chase because what he had she did not want to mess with.” He then explicitly claimed “Chase had a sex video from a puppy cam of [Lindsie]… that he bought for $5,000.” Lindsie replied that selling a sex tape is a crime, to which Todd replied, “It’s not criminal, maybe civil.” He then reiterated that she should “just be careful,” ending the meeting with what felt like a threat.
This extraordinary conversation – a father allegedly leveraging a sordid tape against his own daughter – was later documented by Lindsie in her statements to both the FBI and the Cherokee County Sheriff (the timelines match: she filed the police report on July 16, 2019, shortly after the Chattanooga encounter). Lindsie walked away from that meeting shaken. She promptly took steps to protect herself: not only did she go to law enforcement, but she also hired armed security out of fear that her family might retaliate against her for involving the police. At this point, the Chrisley family was completely fractured. Lindsie cut off contact with Todd and Chase, and she did not return to the family’s TV show after 2017. In interviews, she said she had “no contact” with her parents or siblings and that “for what they’ve done to me, I will never forgive it.”
Courtroom Drama: Lindsie’s Reversal and Prosecutors’ Accusations
Fast forward to May 2022, when Todd and Julie Chrisley’s federal fraud trial commenced in Atlanta. To the surprise of many, Lindsie Chrisley took the stand as a witness for the defense – effectively reversing her position and testifying favorably for her father. On the stand, Lindsie portrayed Todd as a loving, supportive father in earlier years, downplaying their rift. When asked on cross-examination about the extortion allegations, Lindsie suddenly claimed that she no longer believed Todd was behind any sex tape scheme and that she had since learned “there never was a sex tape.” She even told the jury, “It ruined my life,” referring to the scandal, but asserted that it was all a misunderstanding and that her father wasn’t involved. This was a stark departure from what she had been telling law enforcement in 2019–2020. It appeared that in the intervening years, Todd had managed to reconcile with Lindsie – or at least influence her enough to recant her allegations. Indeed, reports surfaced that in 2021 (amid pre-trial maneuvering), Todd did orchestrate a family “peace” with Lindsie; she recorded a three-part podcast with her half-sister Savannah that year, suggesting a temporary thaw in relations. Observers speculated Todd’s motive was to neutralize Lindsie as a potential witness for the prosecution.
Prosecutors were not fooled. In a post-trial sentencing memorandum, the Department of Justice directly accused Todd Chrisley of witness tampering and obstruction, citing the Lindsie sex tape saga as a prime example. They argued that Todd’s “crime spree culminated in [his] attempts to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation” by “putting up witnesses to lie for [him] at trial, including… his oldest daughter.” The government stated in blunt terms: “Todd Chrisley not only tried to ‘unlawfully influence’ his daughter, Lindsie Chrisley; he succeeded.” They pointed out that Lindsie’s flip-flopping testimony – in which she suddenly exonerated her father – was not credible and appeared to be the product of Todd’s influence. In fact, during Lindsie’s live testimony, her demeanor raised eyebrows; she was evasive and sarcastic enough under cross-examination that the judge admonished her for her attitude in front of the jury. After Todd and Julie were convicted, prosecutors asked the judge to consider Todd’s intimidation of Lindsie as an aggravating factor warranting a harsher sentence.
Federal Sentencing Memo (Nov 2022): “Todd and Julie Chrisley’s crime spree culminated in their attempts to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation and putting up witnesses to lie for them at trial… Lindsie took the stand at trial and testified for her father and stepmother. Todd Chrisley succeeded in manipulating his estranged daughter… Todd Chrisley not only tried to ‘unlawfully influence’ his daughter, Lindsie Chrisley; he succeeded.”
Judge Eleanor Ross, who presided over the trial, did signal concern about possible witness influence. Ultimately, she handed down a sentence close to what prosecutors sought – Todd got 12 years, a term severe enough that it likely reflects, in part, the court’s view of his obstruction and intimidation efforts. The judge also openly reprimanded Lindsie during trial for her uncooperative answers, suggesting the court doubted Lindsie’s sudden change of heart. In short, the official record by trial’s end painted a picture that Todd bullied his daughter into silence. Legal experts noted how unusual and tragic this scenario was. Using revenge porn as a weapon to suborn perjury is not only morally repugnant – it’s potentially a federal crime (witness tampering), and in this case it backfired spectacularly, effectively confirming Todd’s character for the court. As former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani observed, even an attempt to intimidate a witness (successful or not) can justify an obstruction of justice enhancement at sentencing, because it “goes to the heart of the justice system’s integrity.” (This aligns with what the Chrisley prosecutors argued in their memo, though Rahmani’s quote comes from analysis of another case. The message was clear: the alleged extortion plot was taken seriously at the highest levels and became a dark footnote to the Chrisleys’ downfall.
Public Reaction: Outrage and “Chrisley Knows Prison”
Public sentiment around this scandal has been overwhelmingly critical of Todd and Chase Chrisley. Fans and onlookers took to social media and forums to express shock that a father and brother could stoop so low. On Reddit, a community that once followed the show Chrisley Knows Best rebranded itself as r/ChrisleyKnowsPrison, a snarky hub for dissecting the family’s misdeeds. When details of Lindsie’s FBI report became public (via a Daily Mail expose in late 2022), Reddit users were aghast. “Chase bought a sex tape of his sister Lindsie… to blackmail her to lie about their fraud in state & federal court? How low will [they] go?” one user wrote, capturing the general sense of disgust. Another replied, “It speaks poorly of anyone who would buy a tape to manipulate someone into committing perjury.” Many commenters noted that the Chrisleys always seemed incapable of admitting wrongdoing, and this saga confirmed their worst suspicions about the family’s ethics.
On forums like these, Lindsie garnered a measure of sympathy – even from former skeptics – for having endured such treatment by her own family. “Not sure I could be as forgiving as she was if they threatened my child,” one person remarked, referring to the fact that Lindsie briefly tried to reconcile despite everything. Indeed, the revelation that Todd’s wife Julie slapped Lindsie during a 2017 argument (another incident Lindsie disclosed to the FBI), and that Todd publicly tweeted “#truthmaycostyouyourchild” directed at Lindsie, only cemented the public’s negative view of Todd’s parenting. On Twitter and Facebook, the court of public opinion labeled Todd and Chase’s alleged actions as “sick,” “twisted,” and beyond forgiveness.
Some followers of the case also pored over the available documents themselves – from the redacted police report (which has circulated online) to snippets of court transcripts – to verify the allegations. A Reddit user shared the actual Cherokee County Sheriff’s report number, showing fellow users that the official report backed up Lindsie’s story word-for-word. Others discussed the meaning of Todd’s cryptic tweets, like the now-infamous “#thxgodforpuppycams” tweet Todd posted in 2017. That tweet, which Todd wrote after accusing Lindsie of infidelity (“once a cheater always a cheater…”), was interpreted as him gloating about the puppy-cam sex footage coming to light. “The threats on Twitter were mind-blowing,” one Redditor commented. “If half of this is true, they’re all in on it… Life has a way of bringing out the truth and pointing karma in the right direction.” Such was the sentiment as Todd and Julie headed off to begin their prison terms in January 2023 – many members of the public felt that karma had indeed caught up with the Chrisleys.
Aftermath and Outlook
As of this writing, Todd Chrisley is serving his 12-year sentence in federal prison (FCI Pensacola), and Julie Chrisley is serving 7 years in a separate federal prison, after a failed attempt to appeal their convictions. Lindsie Chrisley, now in her early 30s, has attempted to move forward with her life. She reconciled with her husband Will Campbell (they had been separated during the 2016–2017 turmoil) and is focused on raising her young son. In the wake of her parents’ conviction and incarceration, Lindsie struck a somewhat conflicted tone publicly – expressing heartbreak that her son’s grandparents were going to prison, yet also implicitly validating the justice system’s outcome. It’s telling that Lindsie quietly skipped the elaborate public campaign that her half-sister Savannah Chrisley undertook to proclaim their parents’ innocence. In fact, recent reports suggest that any brief reconciliation between Lindsie and the family has once again fallen apart. Savannah admitted in mid-2023 that she and Lindsie “don’t speak” anymore, indicating that once Todd was no longer physically present to play peacekeeper (or manipulator, as prosecutors saw it), Lindsie kept her distance again.
For Lindsie, the sex tape scandal was deeply traumatic. “It ruined my life,” she testified in court about the ordeal. The scandal also marked her as a key (if unwilling) figure in the broader Chrisley drama – some even call her a whistleblower, given she alerted Georgia authorities in 2017 about her parents’ tax issues. Indeed, evidence emerged that Lindsie had communicated with a Georgia Department of Revenue multiple times, sharing information after she felt Todd and Julie were engaging in more wrongdoing. This further infuriated Todd, who began denouncing Lindsie as a “snake” and warning she “needed to be careful,” as documented in the FBI’s notes. Looking back, Lindsie’s actions – whether one views her as a concerned citizen, a victim seeking protection, or simply a daughter pushed to the brink – undeniably helped shine a light on the Chrisleys’ misdeeds.
Todd and Chase Chrisley, for their part, continue to deny that they ever tried to extort Lindsie. No criminal charges were filed specifically for the alleged sex tape scheme. However, that does not mean exoneration. Federal prosecutors made it clear they believe Todd and his son did engage in this conduct, even if as an “uncharged bad act.” And public opinion has largely sided with Lindsie’s account, given the corroborating details in emails, texts, and Todd’s own tweets. It’s also worth noting that no sex tape ever surfaced, bolstering the likelihood that it was a bluff all along. An investigator close to the case concluded “there never was a sex tape” – a fact Lindsie herself has come to accept. This bizarre chapter demonstrates the extreme measures the Chrisleys were allegedly willing to employ to shield themselves: measures that included weaponizing intimate moments of their own family member.
As the Chrisleys serve their time, the sex tape scandal stands as a cautionary tale about the depths of familial betrayal. It layered a true-crime extortion plot on top of an already sensational fraud case. It turned a reality-TV family into fodder for Reddit sleuths and tabloid headlines. Most of all, it revealed a disturbing dynamic: Todd Chrisley’s drive for self-preservation at any cost – even if it meant targeting his daughter. One can only imagine the lasting psychological scars Lindsie carries from this saga. While justice was ultimately served for the financial crimes, the human cost of the Chrisley family’s implosion is incalculable. As a Reddit user on r/ChrisleyKnowsPrison aptly put it when Todd and Julie reported to prison: “I’m soooo happy to see these criminals behind bars where they belong… Todd needs a new wife and Julie needs a new BFF – they’ll both find them in federal prison where people like that rot away.” The vitriol may be harsh, but it underscores how completely the Chrisleys’ image has flipped. Once they were the picture-perfect Southern family on TV; now they are synonymous with fraud, hypocrisy, and, in Todd and Chase’s case, alleged extortion.
Sources: All assertions in this article are supported by publicly available records and credible reporting. Key sources include the Cherokee County Sheriff’s incident report (filed by Lindsie Chrisley on 7/16/2019), U.S. federal court filings (sentencing memorandum excerpts), FBI interview summaries reported by news outlets, and contemporaneous news coverage by People, Fox News, TMZ, Business Insider, and others. Notably, People Magazine obtained the police report and quoted Lindsie’s allegation that Todd and Chase “wanted her to lie…and if she refused…they were going to release the sex tape”. TMZ first broke news of the FBI probe, revealing that Robby Hayes provided evidence and that agents found no actual tape. Business Insider covered Lindsie’s trial testimony flip, where she admitted she “learned there never was a sex tape”. Finally, detailed investigative reporting by DailyMail (Dec 2022) provided further documentation, including Lindsie’s email to the FBI saying she was “truly afraid” of Todd and quotes from the FBI’s report of her interview. Community reactions were sampled from public Reddit threads. All source links are included throughout the article for readers to verify each claim and read further.