What Happened to J.D. Madison After He Left 'Southern Charm'? An Update

When a show is on the air for as long as Southern Charm, there are bound to be shakeups among the cast. After all, lives and situations change, and the people you were initially following may leave the show for any number of reasons.

Although he was never a regular cast member, John David "J.D." Madison disappeared from the show completely in 2021, leaving fans wondering whatever happened to him? Where did he go and what is he up to these days? Here's an update.

Madison began to drift away from the series after he revealed that he and his wife Liz had separated. Over the first part of the series, he was generally well-liked among the cast on the show, but that began to change after it was suspected that his cheating was the reason the marriage had ended. In speaking with Bravo's The Daily Dish, he said that the couple split up for other reasons.

“Over the last few years, whether it was from lifestyle differences, demanding work hours, high levels of stress, or the demands of marriage, we had grown apart,” Madison explained back in 2018. Although the separation was the beginning of his trouble, it wasn't the end.

Like fellow Southern Charm personality Thomas Ravenel, Madison was accused of sexual assault in 2017. A woman named Susan Johnson claimed that Madison had drugged her and then sexually assaulted her. She claimed that Madison had slipped something into her drink, and then she then felt ill and passed out. When she woke up, she reportedly found that she was being assaulted by Madison.

Five months after she made the initial allegation, Johnson was charged with filing a false police report. In a statement to People, her attorney said that Johnson was not guilty.

“Susan is going to fight this unfair, unfounded charge," the statement said. "She was severely intoxicated on the night in question and so naturally there are some inconsistencies in her recollection. Such inconsistencies do not make her a liar, and they certainly do not make her a criminal.”

In the affidavit attached to the arrest, it's suggested that Johnson was planning to set Madison up in order to extort him for money. The affidavit cites text messages between Johnson and a friend in which they seem to be plotting out the allegation. It appears as though no charges were filed against Madison in connection with the alleged crime.

Although he may not have been found guilty of assault, Madison was eventually arrested for an unrelated crime. In late 2018, he was picked up for a check violation greater than $500 but less than $1,000. He then faced charges of check fraud that started in 2017. Following his arrest, TMZ obtained footage of Madison being picked up by the police as well as his mugshot.

Following all of this turmoil, Madison has been missing from Southern Charm. It seems like the show may have wanted to avoid interacting with him further after he was arrested and accused of assault.

Madison's social media has gone dark since 2021, though he occasionally reposts tweets on X (formerly known as Twitter), and he hasn't given any interviews since he departed from the show ... which is pretty understandable, as it must be pretty hard to pretend to be a southern gentleman after dealing with all of that.