Sister Wives: Is Kody Brown The Most Hated Male Reality Star Of All Time? (Favoring Robyn Ruined His Image)

During Sister Wives season 18, Kody Brown unraveled onscreen, and the anger that his wives aimed at him isn’t so different from what most fans feel. Kody knows he’s not popular and blames misconceptions about who he is for his ongoing public relations nightmare. However, it’s possible that viewers see right through him. Fans don’t trust Kody because he won’t take responsibility for family problems that he basically engineered. Since he brought about his own family’s downfall but blames it on everyone else, it’s not a surprise that the shade thrown at him is often extremely nasty.

Sister Wives season 18 showed what can happen when a patriarch takes multiple wives and then ignores all but one of them. Since the “man of the house” has all the power in a polygamous situation, it stands to reason that he deserves the blame when things go awry. Kody was proud to lord it over the other women, demeaning three of them by lavishing attention on the fourth. What he wasn’t willing to do was say, “This was my fault” when that was obviously the case. By denying his role in things, he’s become a hated figure. No one seems to respect Kody right now. He talked to Us Weekly about fan hate, saying:

Is Kody Brown Just Pretending That He Doesn’t Understand Why He’s Hated?
It Seems Like Kody Brown Doesn’t See His Role In Things

What’s really unbelievable is the fact that Kody doesn’t understand why he’s getting ripped apart. In the past, his self-awareness wasn’t the best, but his fairly recent comment about shade from Sister Wives viewers showcased a remarkably low level of emotional intelligence. Maybe it’s just willful ignorance – possibly, Kody knows exactly why he’s getting dragged but decided that he just won’t acknowledge the fact that he deserves the blame. If he admitted that, he’d open Pandora’s Box. It’s easier to pretend to be a good guy who’s honestly confused by the fact that Sister Wives fans can’t stand him.

However, there’s a downside to walking that path. He alienates the fan base, as people who watch Sister Wives want Kody to get real. For years, they’ve watched him turn away from Meri, Janelle and Christine Brown while giving one hundred percent to Robyn. They’ve watched the less-loved (or maybe unloved) wives deal with jealousy, emotional neglect, parenting issues that he doesn’t help with, and so much more. Three wives spent a lot of time without a husband, while Robyn seemed to spend every waking moment with Kody. Things were out of balance in such a dramatic and toxic way.

What Sister Wives Fans Have Been Saying About Kody Brown
The Things That Fans Say About Kody Brown Are Brutal

On Reddit, Sister Wives fans vented, sharing their opinions about the worst things that Kody has done. In a thread started by HappyHippoLover six months ago, the disses were brutal. One fan thought Kody hit a low point:

When he panted like a dog and said Janelle and Christine were like “pick me, pick me.”

Another fan referenced one of the worst things that Kody ever did, which was skipping his daughter Ysabel Brown’s scoliosis surgery. That operation happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Kody wouldn’t break his ultra-strict rules in order to be with his daughter at the hospital. A fan on the same thread blasted him, saying:

Calling the surgery trip a vacation… raises my blood pressure.

Kody’s fat-shaming got out of control when Christine enjoyed some tasty nachos. Apparently, his wives are supposed to eat like birds. Christine wanted a good snack and wasn’t afraid to eat in front of him. A fan reacted to his sexist and offensive rant about Christine’s nachos, saying:

Telling the whole world you saw your future wife eating nachos and the sight of that chubby girl eating made your stomach turn.

Kody has made mistakes. He’s a chauvinist who’s steeped in the kind of patriarchal thinking that led Ken into trouble in the Barbie movie. Kody is definitely un-evolved – he makes bad decisions but thinks he’s “the man.” Putting down the eating habits of one wife is crass. Failing to be there for his daughter disappointed Ysabel and fans. Comparing his wives to panting dogs was just gross. He shares 18 kids with these women (and the beloved Robyn):

A fan on another Reddit thread, which was started by World-peace96, vented about “attention pig” Kody, whom they “dislike”:

Attention pig, foolish, and an embarrassment: a combo that will cause me to dislike you every time.

These fan comments just scratch the surface. It’s very rare to see any positive remarks about Kody on social media platforms. Whether it’s YouTube, Reddit or Instagram, Kody’s the butt of jokes. Some commenters seem to have fun mocking him without really detesting him, but others seem to hate him. When the latter group puts him down, there’s real venom in the words and memes.

People may take out their aggression on the patriarch. If a Sister Wives viewer has a bad day, they can go online and tear him apart, and maybe they’ll feel better. Of course, some fan criticism is valid.

Kody Brown Thinks He’s A Hero
Kody Brown Never Sees Himself As A Bully

Kody alternates between playing the martyr and the hero. What he never does is own up to the fact that he’s often a villain. Just as he puts Robyn on a pedestal, Kody sees himself as someone who’s worthy of respect. He seems to believe that he’s a real family man who unfairly gets a bad rap from his exes and fans. When he’s playing the martyr, Kody’s often insufferable. A lot of things he did to Meri, Janelle and Christine were quite aggressive. The fan quotes posted earlier in this article show that Kody’s hostility is frequently overt and unmistakable.

When Kody plays the hero, it’s just baffling. He feels he’s made incredible sacrifices to try and keep the Brown family intact, but really, he spent all of his time pulling apart the fabric. He frayed it until it was destroyed. Then, when three ignored wives ran for the hills, he blamed them for leaving him. What’s heroic about that? Kody’s belief in his own goodness isn’t that surprising, as he’s strongly narcissistic. Narcissists love themselves, although some psychiatrists believe that their inflated self-worth is a defense mechanism.

With that in mind, Kody could be an egomaniac, or he could be someone who needs praise (and to consider himself a hero), falling apart inside when he isn’t adored. He may actually be emotionally fragile, as he came apart at the seams during season 18, when the unloved wives started to assert themselves and criticize him. He didn’t handle it well. So perhaps there’s some truth to the theory that narcissistic people are inwardly fragile, and react badly when they get the same kind of treatment that they dish out.

Kody’s exes are good women. All three tried to get along with him, with varying levels of success. Meri was the most obviously emotionally abused but she cheated on Kody. Her catfishing scandal caused a rift that couldn’t be repaired.

Janelle was Kody’s buddy, acting as a sounding board. She had plenty of common sense. However, she didn’t give him the same romantic thrills that Robyn did. Eventually, this became a real problem.

With Christine, jealousy was a factor. Christine couldn’t control her feelings of jealousy and had trouble hiding them. Since Kody’s so devoted to Robyn, Christine’s attitude towards his “true love” ruined their spiritual union.

Sister Wives Fans Think Kody Brown Is Low-Life
Sister Wives Viewers Have Lost All Respect For Kody Brown

As per the Us Weekly at YouTube clip shown above, fans just don’t respect Kody anymore. They diss him for being absent from family get-togethers (like Janelle’s Flagstaff hiking outing). They even put down his dance moves after he was spotted frolicking with Robyn at a bar. Kody can’t catch a break, and he knows that. There’s just no way for him to win. He could have tried to be more honest about the fact that he didn’t really love the other wives. He waited much too long to come clean. That’s why fans stopped believing him, liking him and respecting him.

Kody took a page from Robyn’s book by using covert means to get his point across. Robyn is very passive-aggressive. Kody started mimicking Robyn by doing things that hurt his unloved wives while posing as a caring polygamist. For example, in season 18, when Meri told him that she wanted to move to Utah, he suggested that she stay closer to him, but live in a “barndominium.” He would store his belongings there, such as motorbikes, and Meri could live in a loft upstairs.

The barn idea didn’t exactly please Meri – she was obviously hurt by it – of course, he knew that she would be. It was offensive to intimate that she belonged with his cast-off possessions. This kind of passive-aggression has made fans turn on Kody. They see what he’s doing every time they watch the show. They are intuitive enough to understand that Kody is messing with the wives he doesn’t care about rather than trying to help them.

Sister Wives Fans May Compare Kody Brown To “Bad Men” They’ve Been With
Is Kody Brown As Bad As He’s Been Made Out To Be?

A lot of women watch Sister Wives, and it’s a safe bet that many of them compare Kody to the worst men they’ve encountered. Some men may do the same thing. Kody’s become despised because he reminds viewers of the players, clowns and dirtbags that they’ve dealt with in their lives. These guys might be ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends. They might even be partners who are still around but behaving badly. Since viewers are taking out their rage on Kody, they may have repressed anger at men they’ve known. This seems to seep out when they rip the patriarch apart.

Is Kody getting the blame for a ton of bad relationships, including the turbulent romances of Sister Wives fans? Perhaps. By reminding viewers of just how bad men can be, Kody ensures his place in reality TV’s rogue’s gallery. In fact, he may be its king.

It’s hard to think of a male reality star who’s more hated than Kody. He’s truly in a class of his own.

Kody’s been compared to some of the most intensely evil villains, including Darth Vader and Satan. He’s been called a wimp, a loser and worse. The white sports car he used to drive was mocked – his curly hair has gotten shade. There’s really no facet of Kody’s personality and image that hasn’t been dissected and then eviscerated. While he may not be as bad as he seems, he’s not exactly a fan favorite.

Now that it’s just him and Robyn, fans are still finding reasons to pick him apart. He’s more or less minding his own business, but that’s not good enough for Sister Wives viewers. Whenever he decides to speak out, whether he’s accusing his exes of parental alienation or saying he wants to heal his rifts with them, “monster” Kody’s a lightning rod for controversy. The trouble is that he turns on a dime, saying he wants healing after painting his exes as cruel women who damage his relationships with his children.

Sister Wives’ Kody is not going to change public perception anytime soon. There are people who need someone to hate and Kody is their chosen target. If he did change, they might not be happy.

No matter what he does, it won’t make a bit of difference. Sister Wives’ Kody could devote the rest of his life to volunteering or another form of charity work – he could become a Buddhist monk who chants about peace and detachment all day long. He could fly to the moon. Nothing will change what’s been set in motion. Kody will still be perceived as a terrible man who hurt three women. So, his best bet is to try and enjoy his life as much as he can.