Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced to twelve and seven years in prison, respectively, on Nov. 21 after being convicted of fraud. Three days later, it was Thanksgiving in the United States, and that timing wasn’t going to work for Lindsie Chrisley and her 10-year-old son, Jackson. “With my parents’ sentencing just being a couple of days before Thanksgiving and me having Jackson for Thanksgiving, emotions were very high at that point,” said Lindsie, 33, on the Dec. 14 episode of her podcast, The Southern Tea.
“And so, I just didn’t feel it was in the best interest of Jackson for him to go and see my parents in any state that they normally aren’t, if that makes sense,” added the once-estranged daughter of Todd, 53, and Julie, 49 (h/t PEOPLE). “They needed time to process, and I wanted to be able to give them that time and very much struggled with giving up spending the time with my parents, and having to make a decision as a mother over a daughter like that was a very difficult thing.”
Lindsie also said that her son – who she shares with her ex-husband, Will Campbell – influenced her decision. “Jackson is very different than my niece Chloe,” she said. “Like, my parents can tell her to sit down and watch TV, she’s gonna sit down and watch TV, and you won’t even know the child is in the house. Jackson wakes up, it’s like a tornado comes through the house, from the time that he literally wakes up until the time that he goes to bed. And so, with that kind of energy going on, and then you know, just not so great news that just wasn’t a good combination in my opinion, so I had to make a hard decision as a mom and absolutely hate it.”
Though Lindsie was once on the outs with her parents – she once accused Todd and her brother, Chase Chrisley, of threatening to release her alleged “sex tape,” which her father denied while accusing her of extramarital affairs — she explained in August how her divorce led to a reconciliation with her family. “After my divorce stuff had become public, my dad had posted, ‘I’m here, I love you, whatever’s going on in your life right now, I see it,'” she said. “That’s really more so how we were able to reconnect. So, to answer that question — in short, it was definitely because of my divorce.”
Following Todd and Julie’s sentencing, Julie released a statement. “I am heartbroken and navigating this process the best way I know how,” she said. “At the end of the day, this is a real family, and these are real and raw emotions. With that being said, thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. It really means the world to my family and me.”