Chrisley Knows Best stars Todd and Julie Chrisley have had custody of their granddaughter Chloe since 2016, but with Todd and Julie set to report to prison next month, Chloe’s biological mom, Angela Johnson, says she plans to try to regain custody of the now-10-year-old.
“I don’t think it’s right for them to just pretend that I don’t exist,” Angela said in a tearful interview with TMZ on Monday, adding that she’s not OK with the Chrisley Family’s plan of allowing Todd and Julie’s daughter Savannah to take custody of Chloe while Todd and Julie are incarcerated.
“I don’t think it’s right. At the end of the day, I’m her biological mother,” Angela said.
Makes me wanna cry to see how big she is getting I love my baby pic.twitter.com/Ag65IhND1k
— angela johnson (@angej201211) March 13, 2014
“I was cut out of her life. I didn’t walk away from her. I was pushed out of her life and they wanted me to forget about Chloe. And they wanted Chloe to forget about me like I don’t exist,” Angela said.
Angela welcomed Chloe in 2012 with Todd’s eldest son, Kyle Chrisley, though by 2016, both parents had lost custody of Chloe and Todd and Julie stepped in to raise her.
Following Todd and Julie’s sentencing, their daughter Savannah Chrisley claimed she plans to take custody of both her younger brother Grayson and Chloe while her parents are behind bars; however, Chloe’s mom Angela has other plans.
“I want her home,” Angela told TMZ. “She deserves to be home…she has family back home. My whole side of the family she won’t probably even remember because she’s been away for six years almost. That’s not right for a child not to be with her mother, first of all, especially if the mom hadn’t did anything for that kid to be taken. She shouldn’t have been taken away from me anyway. But for them to continue to keep her away from me, that’s not right.”
Angela claims she has been working for years to regain custody of her daughter, noting that the Chrisleys living in Tennessee (and Atlanta, Georgia, before that) has created a jurisdiction nightmare, as Angela resides in South Carolina.
For those unfamiliar with Chloe’s custody situation, Kyle lost custody of his daughter in 2013 after being arrested and charged with assault. (He also struggled with addiction.) After that, Angela was sharing custody with Todd and Julie, something she now says didn’t make sense.
❤️ my Chloe pic.twitter.com/yupTkiHwuF
— angela johnson (@angej201211) March 31, 2016
“I don’t understand why I had to do joint custody with Todd and Julie in the first place, because it’s not like I would just keep them away from Chloe,” Angela said. “…But for us to go from joint custody to them just taking her all the way? That’ s just too far. I would never want that to happen to any mom that’s doing right by her kids.”
Angela lost her rights to Chloe after she was arrested for Medicaid and food stamps fraud. In her interview with TMZ, Angela claims she didn’t commit Medicaid fraud and she has proof of this.
“I never claimed Chloe [as a dependent] when I could not claim Chloe,” she said. “Never did. That was just for [the Chrisleys] to make me look bad. Because my record was clean, nothing on my record. For 26 or 27 years, I never had anything on my record until somebody said, ‘Oh she committed Medicaid fraud.’ No I did not.”
Went for a girls day out. Love my Chloe pic.twitter.com/c2tADacrHi
— angela johnson (@angej201211) November 28, 2015
In a episode of Savannah’s Unlocked podcast recorded in November, Savannah stated that Chloe was in bad shape when the Chrisleys got her from Angela.
“This child came to us from her biological mother,” she said. “She had been starved half the time. She wasn’t clean. She came to us one time with a burn on her chest. So, yes, her biological mother may have [given birth to] her but that doesn’t make you a mother.”
“Every child that has been adopted has biological parents,” Julie said on the same podcast episode. “That doesn’t mean that we aren’t [Chloe’s] parents. She is ours. She is our daughter. She is not our granddaughter.”
Angela told TMZ that she hasn’t spoken to Chloe’s biological dad Kyle about the situation. Still, she insists that Chloe belongs with her.
My mini me love my baby ?? pic.twitter.com/lVtX30rBxA
— angela johnson (@angej201211) June 8, 2015
“I want her with me, just like my other two kids are. They’re with me,” she said.
Angela says that she hasn’t filed the legal paperwork yet to try to get custody of Chloe.
“But I am in the process of getting some legal papers filed so I can go back to court to get Chloe back home,” she said.
The Chrisleys have yet to publicly comment on Angela’s claims.
(Photos:Instagram; Twitter; USA Network)
6 Responses
I’m a former family law attorney. While the laws vary state to state, in general, if Chloe was legally adopted by Todd and Julie then that means that the parental rights of both of her bio-parents were terminated or each of her bio-parents surrendered their rights, thus freeing Chloe for adoption. It is also possible that one parent surrendered and the Court terminated the other parent’s rights. If she is legally adopted then neither bio-parent has any rights to her and generally would not have standing to petition for custody.
If Chloe is not legally adopted, but Todd and Julie have legal custody, then either of Chloe’s bio-parents can file to change custody. In that case, the Court would have to determine what is in Chloe’s best interest. Given the length of time she has been with the Chrisleys and if it is Chloe’s preference to remain with them, the court would likely keep custody with the Chrisleys.
There is a wrinkle in that neither Todd or Julie will be parenting Chloe due to their prison sentences, which kind of opens the custody decision back up, but only if the Chrisleys have custody and aren’t the legal parents. If they adopted and are Chloe’s legal parents, then it is their decision as parents as to who will care for their child while they are indisposed. If they only have custody, then there could be a challenge to someone who does not have custody, in this case Savannah, taking over, but again if it ends up in Court, the focus will be on Chloe’s best interest and maintaining stability for her. At best, the mother may get a set visitation schedule, but that would also only be if the Court finds it in Chloe’s best interest.
Translation: the checks stopped coming.
I’m sure Todd & Julie’s finances played a part in them adopting Chloe, but the court wouldn’t have terminated parental rights if there wasn’t good reason. I’m an adoptee who was removed from my bio mother’s care and am very familiar with the legal ins & outs. Money can buy great legal representation but in cases of child welfare, it’s extremely rare these days that it can buy a judge in family court.
This, 100%. I don’t know how it works in other states, but in mine it takes A LOT for the courts to terminate parental rights. Parents are often given chance after chance over the course of multiple years. Once parental rights are terminated, a bio parent can appeal but only for a limited time. Once that time has passed and a child is adopted the bio parent doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting their rights reinstated. The adoptive parents have total control over whether or not they are open to allowing their adoptive child contact with the bio parent. She’s talking out her ass.
I think Julie said they adopted Chloe. So I don’t know how the bio mom is going to fight for custody since the courts removed her rights.
I don’t think what Todd and Julie did was right, but they have been taking care of this girl since she was a baby.
And the courts clearly believe that the bio mom was not capable of meeting her basic needs they removed her from her life.
I think for Chloe’s stake they need to at least allow her some visitation, but custody, no.