McBee Dynasty’s Calah Jackson on Why Steven Hid Dad’s FBI Drama

Steven McBee Jr.’s ex-girlfriend Calah Jackson had a front row seat to his dad, Steven “Steve” McBee’s, FBI investigation scandal — well before his brothers had any idea what was happening.

“I think that Steven’s reasoning for not telling his brothers [was] because he didn’t want them to take on any of the stress or worry [that] he was having to deal with,” Calah exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, August 14, while promoting season 2 of The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys. “I definitely do think they would be, you know, offended or left out that he would tell me over his brothers because they’re such a close-knit family.”

Calah, who was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Steven for much of season 2, revealed that she “found out about the FBI investigation probably, like, six months or so before everybody else did.”

She explained, “Steven confided in me about it, and I was really his shoulder to lean on and help him go through those motions.”

Calah previously teased on the Bravo series that she knew the McBee family’s “secrets” after she had a massive fight with Steven and his brother Cole McBee during a group trip to the Ozarks. (Calah and Steven have been broken up since filming wrapped on season 2 in late 2024.)

She told Us that while she was hinting at Steve’s FBI investigation, she was “a little drunk” and simply “trying to defend” herself rather than “actually [trying] to expose him.”

Steve was almost totally absent from season 2 of The McBee Dynasty, which filmed in summer and fall 2024, without an initial explanation. However, his eldest son, Steven, slowly started to tell the cameras that his father was under criminal investigation over the running of McBee Farm & Cattle in Missouri.

In November 2024, Steve pleaded guilty to his involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud scam. He was charged with one count of federal crop insurance fraud after being accused of falsifying reports about his crop yields and misrepresenting his crop usage. Steve is currently awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled to take place in September.

While the drama has since come to light in real life, on the show only Steven, his mom, Kristi McBee, the company’s CFO Galyna Saltkovska and Calah are in the loop so far.

Related: Steven Sr. Finally Returns on ‘The McBee Dynasty’ Amid FBI Investigation

Steven “Steve” McBee Sr. made his first appearance on season 2 of The McBee Dynasty — seven episodes in — after the patriarch remained largely offscreen while weathering an FBI investigation. During the Monday, August 11, episode of the hit Bravo series, Steve appeared on the show for the first time this season after reuniting […]

Although Calah told Us that she thinks Steven didn’t share the news with his brothers, Jesse McBee, Brayden McBee and Cole, because he’s a protector, Jesse doesn’t have any hard feelings toward Steven for keeping it quiet.

“It was a shell shock just seeing the weight that Steven had been [dealing with],” Jesse exclusively told Us last month, confirming he learned about his dad’s legal troubles while filming.

Calah, meanwhile, recalled the shock of Steve’s FBI scandal making the papers — even though she was privy to the news months prior.

“It’s a different thing whenever it comes out so publicly, and you’re on a platform,” she said, telling Us that although she and Steven had split by the time the news came out in late 2024, she did have a “couple of conversations” with him about it.

Calah teased that there is “still so much more to come out” about the legal troubles this season, noting that Steve will continue to be “very MIA” in the upcoming episodes.

“He did take some time off, and he got away for a little bit, and was just trying to focus on getting back to a good page,” Calah remembered. “I didn’t see him really a lot at all.”

The McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.