♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, tough reality. todd and julie chrisley, the latest stars sentenced to hard time. the "chrisley knows best" couple presented a squeaky-clean image while flaunting their lavish lifestyle. >> in a year we probably spend $300,000, sometimes more, on clothing. >> how they swindled more than $30 million and what their case might say about reality tv. >> there is definitely pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle for the screen, especially when you're on these reality shows. plus look who's talking. >> tell us something. >> button-pushing cats and dogs. >> stranger. >> stranger? >> lighting up the internet and speaking their mind, sort of.

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. tonight, tv stars todd and julie chrisley are behind bars, convicted of swindling millions. their stiff sentence just the latest in a series of reality stars whose lavish lifestyles hid a crime. here's abc's will reeve. >> reporter: today, behind darkened car windows, reality star couple julie and todd chrisley reported to federal prisons. todd in florida to start serving his 12-year sentence. while julie went to kentucky to begin her seven years. the pair convicted last year of tax evasion and defrauding community banks out of over $30 million in loans. accused of using that money to fund a lifestyle they couldn't actually afford. >> but because they are in the limelight in this way, i think that the fbi and law enforcement is making an example out of them. because everyone can see them.

the exposure is that much bigger. >> reporter: a stunning fall from grace for the seemingly squeaky-clean couple who flaunted their lavish lives while espousing christian values for nearly a decade on their hugely popular shows "chrisley knows best" -- >> i've made 95% of all the money we've ever made in real estate. >> reporter: and its spinoff, "growing up chrisley." >> this right here absolutely freaks me out. >> reporter: devoted viewers following the family since their debut in 2014. it eventually became one of usa network's most successful shows. >> this was a very wholesome family that we saw on television. so to see this family with this christian background that was very much the forefront of who they are have this scandal -- it is just shocking. it's hard to believe. >> reporter: on a recent episode of his podcast "chrisley confessions," todd, defiant. >> if anyone even knew, truly, what has gone on in our life, the things that have happened

and how we still have to keep fighting -- and then, and then they want to sit and talk about, you know, go pay your taxes. dude, shut up, i paid more taxes than you've ever earned. >> reporter: now real life has caught up with the chrisleys. getting two of the stiffest sentences in memory for reality stars. federal prosecutors saying the chrisleys have built an empire based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work and calling them career swindlers. they spent that money on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate, and travel. and used new fraudulent loans to pay back old ones. >> todd and julie pleaded not guilty and put on a thorough defense. and they're very consistent in that belief that they had not committed any crimes. >> reporter: this latest scandal coming right on the heels of convictions for "real housewives" stars teresa giudice and jen shah, sparking the question, what lengths will

reality stars go to, to finance lives of luxury while hiding the truth? >> in year we probably spend $300,000, sometimes more, on clothing. >> reporter: the quirky southern family includes 53-year-old todd and his five children. lindsay and kyle from his first marriage, and chase, savannah, and grayson with 50-year-old wife julie. the couple helping raise kyle's 10-year-old daughter, chloe. family drama the lifeblood of the show, including fights with the kids -- >> nothing about life is fair. >> reporter: money, and how to spend it, often a topic on the show. >> exactly, we've got to run, like fast run, like short of escrow run. >> reporter: todd originally made his fortune in real estate, but federal prosecutors say the family spent more than they made. department of justice says the chrisleys began falsifying documents, securing over $30 million in loans from community banks in georgia between 2007 and 2012. prosecutors stating, "they lie through their teeth to get whatever they want when they want it." >> targeting local community banks as opposed to national

banks, there's less oversight. they can show celebrity status to some of these banks and say, hey, we're good for it. >> reporter: even before todd burst onto the reality tv scene, he had filed for bankruptcy in 2012, $20 million of his debt relieved. >> when you file for bankruptcy, they can still take money in. as they're doing so, they're making a lot more money than they're reporting. they're not paying their debts as they're supposed to. >> reporter: as their reality stars were starting to shine, the chrisleys failed to file or pay taxes from 2013 to 2016. their trial also centered around todd's former employee, mark braddock, seen here in his zillow profile. >> mark braddock turned them in and that changed the course of the case. >> reporter: braddock testified he helped the chrisleys falsify documents and said that his relationship with todd went beyond business. alleging they'd been lovers. telling the jury, "we had a personal relationship, intimate in nature.

i pretty much would dohayou know, it clouded my judgment greatly." todd refuting the relationship in a conversation with his son chase on the podcast "chrisley confessions." >> the thing that has insulted me the most is that out of all of these 54 years, for me to finally be accused of being with a man, it would be someone that looked like mark braddock. >> yeah, exactly. >> i mean, a toad. >> reporter: in court lawyers argued braddock was just a former employee with an ax to grind. but prosecutors continued to hang their case on his testimony. >> for prosecutors, the unfortunate reality for them is, you want that witness with absolutely clean hands. but oftentimes, like you have here, they might not have bloody hands but they have dirty hands. you have to rifle through how they got to that case and why the others are also guilty. >> reporter: the chrisleys' accountant, peter tarantino, will also serve three years for tax crimes. the chrisleys aren't the only reality show stars facing time behind bars.

>> everything's been taken away from me, everything!>> repreousf salt lake city" star jen shah pled guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on a scheme that mostly preyed on the elderly, sentenced to 6 1/2 years. >> the difference is jen has eventually said, i'm guilty. the chrisleys have not said they're guilty. they are still claiming innocence. >> reporter: "real housewives of new jersey" cast member teresa giudice served 11 months in prison on charges she conspired to commit fraud with her then-husband. >> it's like this nightmare you can't get out of. >> i 100% believe there is definitely pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle for the screen, especially on these reality shows. and it's not easy to do that if you don't have it. >> reporter: the couple spending their final days running errands near their hometown in tennessee. julie seen grocery shopping with her mom.

todd heading into the post office. in these photos from the dailymail.com, their youngest child, 16-year-old grayson, and 10-year-old granddaughter chloe, will be cared for by the older children. >> those minors are obviously going to be missing their parents during this time. they'll be able to communicate with them. >> reporter: the chrisleys say they plan to appeal. >> these two individuals are just incredibly kind, incredibly smart. and i think they don't deserve what's happened to them. but more importantly, i think they don't deserve the caricature that's been painted about them in the press. >> lindsay chrisley was the eldest daughter of the family. and she told me recently when i spoke with her for "people" that this whole situation has brought the family closer together, but it has been unfortunate that this was the situation that brought them back together. >> our thanks to will. when we come back, the special bond between pets and their humans gets a big boost from modern technology.

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♪ most dog and cat lovers would tell you that their furry friends communicate with them in a variety of ways. but now some button-pushing felines and canines are making their say very clear, becoming social media sensations in the process. here's renowned cat dad trevor ault. >> reporter: here in this

idyllic connecticut home, steve b. is about to address his kingdom. >> bird! >> he's a so-called talking cat, pressing speech buttons with his paws to seemingly communicate his needs. >> tell us something. >> play, snuggle. >> there we go, that was a few things. >> that didn't make any sense, but all right. yes, snuggle. >> snuggle makes sense for that one. >> reporter: that adorable face and button-pushing talent has made him an internet sensation. over 240,000 followers managed by owner christina wilson. steve isn't the only pet speaking his mind. >> settle. >> yes, settle. >> reporter: the button phenomenon has taken over social media as pet parents across the globe ask the age-old question, if my pet could talk, what would they say? >> outside later. >> couch now concerned. >> owners are turning to

programmable buttons which allow them to choose phrases and words for their animal to interact with. >> stranger. >> stranger? you're right. >> reporter: it's the latest phase in the recent "fur-vor" of pet ownership. in 2020, the pet industry exceeded $100 billion for the first time ever with pet adoption increasing 250%. and a fitting face of that world is steve b. >> steve is actually named after steve buscemi, the actor. because when steve was born, he had upper respiratory infection. and his eyes were really inflamed. >> sure. >> he looked just like steve buscemi. >> naturally. >> reporter: wilson is no stranger to cats. in fact, she has ten of them. but she says steve was always special. >> i had steve for i think 2 or 3 days old, as soon as his eyes opened. it was very obvious he was a different kind of dude. he was just super social and really curious about everything. and just really a different kind of intelligence than i've seen

in any of our other animals. i had seen him using buttons. i thought, steve would like this, let's see. >> reporter: wilson works as a cad behaviorist. she says a natural launching point to get steve using the buttons was his unquenchable desire to go outside. >> whenever i'd let him out, i'd push the button. he learned in four days it connected. i could see the moment it connected, he's like, oh! he used to just go to the door and scream. then he learned he could push the button and we'd open it and let him out. >> no, we just went outside. okay, fine. >> after that, all the rest of the buttons came super quick. if i wanted him to do something crazy and he didn't want to do it, he wouldn't do it. that's the beauty of cats is they're not socialized in the way dogs are. >> yes. >> exactly. >> they're going to do what they want. >> dogs have owner, cats have staff? >> yes.

>> reporter: bunny is a 3-year-old sheepadoodle. owner alexis has been teaching bunny how to use buttons since she brought her home. >> every time we went outside i would press the button "outside." i would say outside, we'd go outside. so she's hearing it a lot. bunny was by the door, by her button. out of the corner of my eye i could see her looking at the button, looking up at us. she lifted her paw and looked at us and smashed the button. i screamed, "oh my god!" i went outside and we had a little outside party. it was sort of game on. >> reporter: with more than 8 million tiktok followers, bunny stands as one of the most-followed animals on the app. hundreds of thousands of views on every post. >> hi, girly! what now? hm? >> i think the idea of a dog-translating collar. or the movie "up." >> my owner made me this collar so i may talk -- squirrel! >> i think that's been around in

popular culture for a long time and hasn't really been actualized. and now that it has been, people are like, this is incredible. i think people really want to understand the animals that they share their lives with. >> outside. >> reporter: bunny now has 100 buttons and is part of a study looking at animal communication. >> these beings that we share our lives with have emotions and probably are just as conscious as we are. >> reporter: fluent pet is the company behind the button system bunny uses, and they're running the "how they can talk" study. >> we're putting together a scientific integrity review board that is able to review all of the work that we're doing and our practices. and then when our data sets are published, people can go in and look at them for themselves and decide whether what it is that we have found is real or not. >> you want to play? >> reporter: is your pet actually talking? according to science, the answer

isn't very straightforward. >> i think the problem with these buttons is when you're using it to communicate more abstract terms. if you call their name, do they know that "i am fluffy"? or do they simply know, when you say this word, i need to look at you. does that simply mean, "look at me"? >> reporter: dr. andrea is a veterinarian, studying animal behavior for years. she believes these buttons can be used to better understand your pet, but they won't be answering any hard-hitting questions any time soon. >> if your end goal is to improve the relationship between you and your animal, you've done it in a way that you are not compromising the animal's welfare, then in that sense, for a layman's purpose, why not? >> it's not speech or language acquisition. it's associative concept learning, right? so what you're learning to do or what steve is learning to do is associate a specific concept,

like going outside, with an action, which is pushing the button, right? he's not learning the word "outside" means this. and in fact, i don't know what he thinks the button means. that's not a one-to-one translation. >> reporter: steve b. may not be talking per se, but he still is able to express opinions. it seems like a disdain for a certain type of music. >> you really don't like this? >> it sounds like we're a long way away from having a flat-out conversation with our cats. >> yes, absolutely. yes. i think it's really entertaining, i think it's a great way to spend time with your pets. i really just caution that we don't take it too far into saying that we're speaking with our pets, because that's not what's happening. >> reporter: steve b. may not be sitting down with us for a full interview any time soon, but wilson says even with his massive fan club and limited vocabulary, the two of them have only grown closer. >> there's not going to be some high-profile breakup between you

and steve? crtirees? ulbeeabrennot, oh >> no, no, he's my best friend. i love that people have steve. >> right. >> that's all that i care about is other people love my best buddy. >> our thanks to trevor. when we come back, the big announcement from madonna. her famous friends helping to her famous friends helping to reveal it. if your moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the start... and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. our doctor if yo sores, new skin growths,ke ,

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♪ finally tonight, madonna is back.

>> '80s, '90s, 2000s, four decades of music. >> madonna! >> yeah? >> i dare you. >> uh-huh? >> to do a world tour and play your greatest [ muted ] hits. >> four decades? >> some of her famous friends helping her unveil the details of her new world tour. >> okay, so the answer is -- yeah. >> madonna saying she hopes to give her fans the show they've been waiting for, encompassing 40 years of hits including "vogue." madonna's 35-city tour kicks off in vancouver in july. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.

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