The mother of Todd and Julie Chrisley's biological granddaughter is reportedly working on plans to regain custody.
Todd and Julie Chrisley are speaking out after reports that a potentially fierce custody battle may soon be on the horizon.
The mother of Todd and Julie Chrisley's biological granddaughter, Chloe -- whom the Chrisleys consider their daughter after adopting her as a young child -- is said to be working on plans to regain custody in the wake of the Chrisleys being sentenced to a combined 19 years in federal prison.
In an emotional interview with TMZ, Angela Johnson spoke about the reasons why custody for 10-year-old Chloe should be reverted back to her following the Chrisleys' conviction in their tax fraud case. She says the wheels are in motion but claims this isn't the first time she's thought about going through with regaining custody.
"As of right now, I hadn't filed any legal papers but I am in the process of getting some legal papers filed so I can go back to court and get Chloe back home," she told the outlet.
Angela claimed she had been at a standstill over filing legal papers because she was "trying to figure out where they'd end up in court because [the Chrisleys] live in two or three different states."
In an emotional plea, Angela is adamant that Chloe "deserves to be home" and claims she was cut out of Chloe's life.
"I've held back for so long to try to patiently do it," said Angela about fighting for custody while choking back tears. "And I don't think it's right for them to pretend that I don't exist and just say, 'Oh, we're just going to let Savannah get her.' That don't make sense."
In response to reports about Chloe, the Chrisleys' rep told ET in a statement, "Todd and Julie are saddened by the unfortunate and misleading narrative currently being portrayed in the media regarding Chloe."
Chloe is the daughter of Todd's eldest son, Kyle, whom he shares with ex-wife Angela. Todd and Julie adopted Chloe at a very young age and have raised her as their own in their household. Angela, Todd and Julie all shared custody of Chloe, but the Chrisleys were awarded sole custody after Angela was arrested for allegedly filing a false application for Medicaid. TMZ reports Angela struck a plea deal in the case, though she denied any wrongdoing.
Angela, who says she hasn't spoken to Kyle and has no idea how he's doing with his sobriety, also had strong feelings about Savannah Chrisley saying she could end up with custody of her 16-year-old brother, Grayson, as well as Chloe.
"As far as Savannah goes with Chloe, I don’t think it’s right because, at the end of the day, I’m her biological mom," Angela said. "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."
She continued, "The reason why I feel like Chloe should be home is she has family back home. My whole side of the family she won’t even remember because she’s been away for six years almost. That’s not right."
Angela also said she never understood why she and the Chrisleys shared custody of Chloe.
"I would have never kept her from seeing them," Angela added.
Angela said Chloe ultimately should come live with her and her two other children.
On a recent episode of her Unlocked podcast, Savannah and Julie discussed their relationship with Chloe.
"Every child that has been adopted has biological parents," Julie said. "That doesn’t mean that we aren’t her parents. She is ours. She is our daughter. She is not our granddaughter. She is our daughter, which makes her your sister."
And on the newest episode of Coffee Convos With Kail Lowry and Lindsie Chrisley, custody of Chloe was also discussed.
"Chloe has been legally adopted by my parents. Her biological mother, Angela, went to a tabloid and gave her whole spiel on everything and as much as I can sympathize with her as a mother, I look at the situation as a collective whole. I look at Chloe having biological parents, having adoptive parents and mental health and the situation with my parents sentencing," Lindsie began. "The story was she wanted Chloe to be returned in her terms 'home' and Chloe is home and I want to make that very clear. Chloe has been with my parents roughly since she was six months old. Medical records, school records, court documents will prove this. Her first birthday was broadcast on national TV and it’s very disheartening when you see things that are being said that are so blatantly false."
Lindsie added, "As a mother, you have to look at transitions and minimizing those. The most minimal transition would be for Chloe to stay in her same location with her same therapist with the people that she knows… She has great grandparents that are heavily involved with her that are going to support my sister through the process. Julie's parents are very involved with Chloe. My nanny is also very involved with her. To remove her from the situation and where she is now would be so many transitions for her that she wouldn’t be able to cope."
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