Summary
WithSister Wivesseason 19 expected to premiere soon, it’s a good time for an overview of polygamist patriarchKody Brown’s most bitter family feuds. 55-year-old Kody has had a challenging few years, even going through multiple divorces from three of his four wives. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. When the unscripted series premiered in 2010, it was supposed to present a wholesome image of a functional polygamist family. The show was meant to contrast the all too familiar image of fundamentalist Mormon sects that marry young girls off to older men with many wives. The Browns were a respectable family with age-appropriate wives and happy, healthy children. Despite good intentions, the show chronicled the Brown family’s tragic dissolution.
Before starring inthe cast ofSister Wives,the Browns lived under the same roof in a large home designed for a polygamist family. During the show’s first season, the family moved into separate homes as Kody married his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, and added her children from her first marriage to the mix. This change upended the already fragile dynamics of the complex family, and they would never be the same. With 18 Brown children living in four separate homes, there was never enough of Kody to go around, which created many resentments. Kody’s older children were disappointed in the amount of attention they got from their father. Over the years,many of Kody’s closest relationships were rife with conflict, and here are 8 of Kody’s most enduring family feuds.
20 Best Reality TV Shows Right Now
Reality TV is more popular than ever. With so many to choose from, here are some of the best reality TV shows to stream or watch right now.
8Paedon Brown
He Didn’t Get Along With Robyn
26-year-old PaedonBrown was only 11 years old whenSister Wivespremiered in 2010, and he largely grew up on television. Paedon is Kody’s only son with his third wife, Christine Brown, with whom he has six children in total. Kody and Paedon are a lot alike, which explains much of the conflict between them. Though they’ve butted heads over several issues over the years, the troubles between father and son were often about the fact thatPaedon didn’t always get along with Robyn and her children. Paedon struggled to get along with Robyn’s now 20-year-old daughter, Breanna Brown, who was only 11 when her mother married Kody.
Things got worse between Kody and Paedon after Christine left Kody in 2021, and the two are still not on good terms.
7Ysabel Brown
He Wasn’t There For Her
Kody has 18 children, so it’s not exactly surprising that he doesn’t always remember how old each child is. In 2022,TLCposted a clip from an episode ofSister Wiveson YouTube, where the Browns are celebrating Ysabel Brown’s Birthday. Ysabel is anotherone of Kody’s children with his third wife, Christine. As Christine gathers everyone around for a cake, Kody asks Ysabel, “Are you sweet 17?“An embarrassed Ysabel answers, “I’m sweet almost 18.”
With so many kids, it’s easy to forgive Kody for forgetting someone’s age.
What’s far less forgivable was thatKody didn’t go to Ysabel’s spinal surgery. Ysabel struggled with scoliosis, and whenshe finally got the chance to get much-needed surgery, Kody refused to travel to the hospital with Ysabel. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he didn’t want to risk getting COVID, so Christine had to take Ysabel alone. Even if Ysabel forgives her father for deserting her in her time of need,Sister Wivesfans never will.
6Garrison Brown
Kody’s Most Tragic Feud
Of all of Kody’s many feuds, his feud with Garrison Brown is the saddest. In March 2024, 25-year-old Garrison passed away, devastating the Brown family. Garrison, Kody’s son with his second wife, Janelle Brown, wasn’t on speaking terms with his father at the time of his death. The two men had a falling out whenthe COVID-19 pandemic separated the Brown familyand exposed the existing cracks within theSister Wivesclan. By the time the pandemic hit, Garrison and Kody’s older children were already feeling resentful of Kody for the fact he had less time for them since marrying Robyn. When Kodydidn’t think his older kids were taking the virus seriously enough, he stopped seeing them. For the first time, the Brown family spent multiple holidays apart from each other.
5Gabriel Brown
No Mutual Respect
Like with Garrison, the tension between Kody and22-year-old Gabriel Browncame to a head over COVID-19 rules, buttheir problems started long before then. Gabriel is also Janelle’s son, and duringSister Wivesseason 17, Janelle provided more insight into the conflict. “For my boys, there’s so much more going on than just this fight over whose COVID rules should be followed,” she explained to producers.
“They have for a long time perceived that Kody’s focus, you know, his time, everything, was spent, the majority at Robyn’s house, even when we lived in Vegas.”
Janelle was aware of the fact that her children felt neglected by Kody, who they felt favored Robyn’s children. For Kody’s part, he insisted thathe was giving his younger children more attention than his older children needed, but Gabriel didn’t accept what he perceived as his father’s absence.
4Robyn Brown
Kody Destroyed Her Dreams
Robyn wanted a plural marriage. She revealed that a big part of thereason she fell in love with Kody was because she saw the Brown family dynamicand wanted her children to be a part of it. Robyn’s first marriage was monogamous, and it ended badly in divorce. After several years of being a single mom of three kids, Robyn met Meri, who introduced her to Kody and the rest of the family. Robyn believes in the principle of plural marriage and doesn’t want to be Kody’s sole wife. Since his three other wives have left him, she finds herself in a monogamous relationship with Kody.
Since Kody doesn’t currently seem to have any intention of bringing another wife into the family, it’s only a matter of time before Robyn decides their marriage isn’t working.
3Janelle Brown
She Sided With Her Sons
The Brown family was already in trouble when COVID-19 came along, and the pandemic exposed existing issues. Different households had varying opinions on risk tolerance, and Kody was the most risk-averse, sohe would go for long periods without seeing different familymembers.
Kody demanded Janelle throw her adult sons out of the house, or he could no longer visit her and their other children. When Janelle refused, iteffectively ended the marriage, and Janelle left Kody in 2022after 29 years of marriage and six children together. Since leaving Kody,Janelle sadly had to bury her son, Garrison, and she has been in mourning ever since. Though his death brought the family together briefly, Janelle and Kody have a lot of unfinished business, including land they own together.
2Meri Brown
Kody Neglected Her
Kody started neglecting Meri Brown even before he married Robyn, but once they moved into separate homes,Kody saw less and less of his first wife. With their only child together grown and out of the house, Kody had increasingly little reason to spend nights at Meri’s house, and he took advantage of it by spending more time at the homes of his other wives.
Instead of valuing the marriage and working to make Meri happy, Kody increasingly ignored her and would reject her repeatedly.
His mistreatment of his first wife helped set the tone with the other wives he had been neglecting so he could spend more time with Robyn. DespiteKody’s mistreatment of Meri, she stayed loyal long after he told her he was no longer attracted to her.Kody could never treat her like a real wife. Meri finally walked out on Kody in 2022 and has never looked back.
1Christine Brown
Kody Inflamed Her Jealousy
Of all of Kody’s many feuds, his falling out with his third wife, Christine, was the most bitter.Christine struggled more with feelings of jealousy than his other wivesdid. She had a hard time living in a dysfunctional marriage with Kody, while he enjoyed a fully functional relationship with Robyn.Things got worse for Kody and Christineafter the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic divided the family irrevocably. The reason this was Kody’s most painful feud is because Christine’s heartbreak was obvious as she felt completely rejected by her husband. In 2021, Christine was the first of Kody’s wives to walk away from the marriage and has since married David Woolley.
1990
2022
1
1993
6 (1 deceased)
1994
2021
6
2010
–
5 (3 from previous marriage)
Sister Wivesseasons 1-18 are available to stream on Discovery+
Sister Wives
Cast
Sister Wives is a TV series created for TLC that follows Kody Brown and his four wives as they raise their eighteen children and tackle the challenges associated with their massive family dynamic and the stigma that comes with their way of life.
