Red Flags In Kody Brown's Relationships With His Family
Kody Brown, controversial patriarch-turned-villain of the popular reality show "Sister Wives," has had his fair share of cringe-worthy public moments over the course of the last 14 years. Cameras have followed his large polygamist family since the show premiered on TLC back in 2010 with never a dull moment between first wife Meri Brown, second wife Janelle Brown, and third wife Christine Brown (now Christine Brown Woolley), but the primary source of drama has always been Kody's decision to bring Robyn Brown and her children into the family, a storyline central to the hit show's very first season.
Kody has only managed to hang on to one of his four wives after 19 long seasons of the show that would come to define his public persona, with Christine being the first to leave him in 2021 after 27 years together. Subsequently, Janelle and Meri were both revealed to be separated from Kody during the special tell-all episode "Sister Wives: One On One" which aired in December 2022, leaving the once famous polygamist to practice monogamy with Robyn, who was initially wife number four.
The Brown family history is rife with controversy, from their unconventional lifestyle forcing them to flee their home state of Utah, to coming to grips with their own complicated family dynamics. Whether it was the wives struggling to accept Robyn as a new addition, or the family scrambling to secure adequate living arrangements, Kody has always been at the forefront of the drama.
Kody Brown told cameras he was done with Meri Brown before he told her
Kody Brown's questionable actions have caused countless rifts within his large family, but chief among fan complaints is the way he's treated his first wife Meri Brown. Polygamist families are only afforded one legal marriage to the first wife, with the subsequent marriages qualifying as "spiritual" rather than legal, and Meri selflessly filed for divorce in 2014 so new wife Robyn's three children from a previous marriage could be adopted into the family. Meri believes it was this act that marked the beginning of the end for her and Kody, but he insists their relationship was never a good one.
"This marriage was on the rocks the entire marriage," Kody said in a show confessional (via E! News). "I should have gotten out of the relationship 25 years ago." He eventually went on to reveal during the "Sister Wives: One On One" four-part special that he was done with his first wife once and for all. "If she wanted to move on and marry another, she wouldn't get an argument with me," Kody brutally said about Meri.
That same episode gave viewers a front-row seat to Meri's reaction to the footage. "And then he says, 'No, I don't consider myself married to Meri.' Like, he just made the decision. I've never heard him say that to me," she told host Sukanya Krishnan (via Today). Kody even tried to deny Meri a public breakup because he wasn't interested in dealing with the fallout. "I said to him, 'Then if that's where we are, don't you think that we should address that publicly?'" Meri continued. "And he said, 'No I don't want to address it. I don't want that to be out there publicly because I don't want that judgment.'"
Kody Brown admitted he 'never loved' three of his wives
Imagine your former spouse announcing to the world that they never loved you, despite being married for decades. This exact scenario is what Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, and Christine Brown Woolley had to publicly grapple with after Kody Brown claimed he's only experienced love with one woman — his fourth wife Robyn Brown, who also appears to be fed up with her husband as of late.
"I was so anxious to be living the principle of plural marriage that I was not vetting who I was marrying to be compatible with me," Kody told Sukanya Krishnan, host of the "Sister Wives: One On One" tell-all (via Today). He went on to explain how his fourth marriage felt different than the others. "I fell in love with Robyn. I never fell in love with anybody else. I was just choosing to be in that covenant of love with them."
Kody has even gone so far as to say he was tricked into marrying his first wife in an episode of "Sister Wives" that aired in April 2020. "I feel like I was deceived into a relationship that was very different than what I expected. Meri and I had a fast courtship with a lot of expectations and a lot of not communicating," he claimed (via E! Online). "I didn't know who I was marrying. As things unfolded, I started to become troubled and bitter by the situation I was in." It took a few years, but Meri finally clapped back at her former husband in October 2024, during Season 19, Episode 6. "If you didn't want to fail maybe you shouldn't have married the wrong person, one or two or three times," she pointed out (via E! Online).
Kody Brown has estranged relationships with '90 to 95 percent' of his children
Janelle Brown revealed that she chose not to invite Kody Brown to their youngest daughter Savanah's graduation party in an episode of "Sister Wives" which aired on December 1, 2024. "Kody is alienated from 90 to 95 percent of his children," Janelle said (via E! News). "He is not really wanted at events. He is not coming regardless of who he brings or doesn't bring with him."
Brown, the father of 18 kids, has insisted that he's only welcome at gatherings if he chooses to attend without his only current wife, Robyn Brown. "I'd like to be a part of Savanah's life, but it's like they're in this collusion that seems to hate Robyn, and I don't know why other than, well, they're jealous," Kody claimed in the same episode. "I've got this whole other side of the family that have decided that they're still a family and we're out. Now, they'll let me in that club as long as I leave Robyn behind. I can't do that," he continued, but Janelle insisted that's not the case. "Kody has this idea that somehow if he leaves Robyn home, he's going to be able to come to these family gatherings, and that's so far from the truth," she explained.
In fact, Janelle cites Kody's poor relationships with their six children, Logan Brown, Madison Brown Brush, Hunter Brown, the late Garrison Brown, Gabriel Brown, and Savanah Brown, as her primary reason for finally ending their marriage. "The big spark for me was when his relationship broke down with my children and he didn't seem like he would move heaven and earth to fix it," Janelle told E! News. "And I thought, OK, that was what was really holding me here."
Madison Brown Brush doesn't want her kids around Kody Brown
Janelle Brown has made it clear that her children feel alienated from their father, Kody Brown. "The kids are all feeling very estranged from you," she said in a Nov. 13 episode (via E! Online). "There's a lot of nuances, and I can't be in the middle." In fact, their daughter Madison Brown Brush appears to have cut ties with her father completely.
"I know that Maddie has not had any conversations with her dad," Janelle revealed in September 2024 on the "Sister Wives" Season 19 premiere. "He's not called, she's not called him, and she doesn't have any relationship with Robin. She's pretty much written them both off." The episode delves deeper into Kody's fractured relationships, and is aptly named, "A House Divided Cannot Stand."
Janelle claims Kody "cut off communication" with his eldest daughter and her husband Caleb Brush at the beginning of the family's collapse, claiming Madison was to blame. "It was a fish for gossip and I got tired of it," he said, referring to when they would speak. This means he now has little to no contact with Madison and Caleb's three children, Axel, Evangalynn, and Josephine — and that's the way his estranged daughter wants it. "Until he can be consistent and show up and not be dramatic ... she feels like it's probably better if they don't know about him," Janelle said, speaking to the current dynamic between Kody and their shared grandchildren.
Kody Brown consistently paints himself as a victim
As Kody Brown has always counted himself as head of his large family — at its peak, the pack boasted one husband, four wives, and 18 children — it's only natural to assume he's the man to blame for what's gone wrong over the years, but the reality star doesn't see it that way. Season 19 of "Sister Wives" opened with a trailer that sneaked some strong sentiments from the former husband of four, and taking accountability for his own actions seemed to be off the table.
"What did I do to deserve this? What did I do wrong?" Kody asked in a confessional, shifting the blame for the downfall of his family off of his own shoulders. "Civil war," he continued, describing the state of his households. "Total civil war." The conglomerate of clips closed with what's perhaps the most shocking statement from Kody so far: "Blame yourself if I don't love you, OK?" he exclaimed, although it was unclear to which of his former wives he was referencing — perhaps all three.
"They have all betrayed me!" he wailed to Robyn Brown in another promo, leaving viewers to assume he means his former wives, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, and Christine Brown Woolley. But outspoken Janelle says playing the victim has been something her ex has done all along. "Kody has this thing where he's like, 'I've done so much and I've sacrificed so much for this relationship.' Well, that right there is a red flag," she said in "Sister Wives Talk Back: Part I" (via People.) Although Meri, Janelle, and Christine no longer owe anything to their former husband, the jury's still out on Robyn. "I feel like the idiot that got left behind," she admitted in the promo, fighting back tears.