As the shock over the tragic death of Garrison Brown continues to reverberate through the Sister Wives universe, it’s worth remembering eight times Kody Brown and Robyn Brown put themselves and their needs first. When the series first premiered in 2010, Kody was married to his first three wives: Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, and Christine Brown. The entire family lived in one large house in Utah, with each wife having her own wing where she lived with her children. That changed when Kody moved his family out of Utah, in fear that the state would prosecute him for polygamy.
During the first season of Sister Wives, Kody courted and married his fourth wife, Robyn, and moved the family out of Utah and into four separate homes. This divided the family and Kody’s time, leaving less time for each wife and each of Kody’s 18 children. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic divided the family even further, exposing the existing resentments and rifts within the family. In stark contrast to the first season of the show, Sister Wives season 18 found Kody being divorced by the last of his first three wives and in an accidentally monogamous relationship with Robyn.
8
Kody & Robyn Brown Bought A Fancy House While Janelle Had Money Problems
Money Matters
With four wives and 18 children in Sister Wives, the Brown family always struggled to live together again, as they did back in Utah during Sister Wives season 1. However, finding one house that could accommodate them all was nearly impossible, so they had to live in separate homes. At one point, they lived in four separate homes in the same cul-de-sac, which made it easier for Kody to spend time with all of his wives and children; that didn’t last either, and the wives eventually had to find new homes to live in, often at considerable distances apart.
Funds were limited, in part, because the Browns had invested in a large plot of land at Coyote Pass in Arizona, with the goal of developing it for the family to live on together. When it came time for Janelle to find a house, her money was tied up at Coyote Pass. Instead of helping her, Kody bought a large, expensive home for Robyn and her four children.
Left to fend for herself, Janelle had to live in a trailer on the land, with her and Kody’s youngest child.
By the time Christine, Janelle, and Meri left Kody, the Brown family hadn’t yet developed any of the land. Kody was able to buy Christine out, paying her only $10 for her share. Ultimately, she didn’t care about the money and just wanted to be free of Kody. The other wives thought it was unfair since Kody didn’t split Christine’s share with the rest of them, keeping it all for himself. It’s unclear what will happen to Janelle and Meri’s share of the land at Coyote Pass.
7
Kody & Robyn Seemed To Like Putting Down Meri Brown
“Barndominium”
During a Sister Wives season 18 episode, Kody was telling Meri and Robyn his revised dream for Coyote Pass. With his family in shambles, the dream of building multiple-family homes was replaced by the idea of building a “barndominium,” a small apartment situated over a storage shed. Kody planned to store his things in the barn while Meri lived in the apartment above. Though Meri was visibly offended by Kody’s terrible plan, she didn’t say so, and neither did Robyn.
Kody’s “barndominium” dream was emblematic of how he treated Meri like another unwanted item to store out of sight.
Though Robyn befriended Meri, she cared more about living the polygamous dream that she had been promised. When Robyn first married into the family, the Browns were a large, boisterous clan who were always there for each other. Robyn wanting that for herself and her kids was more important to her than Meri’s happiness. That’s why Robyn kept begging Meri to stay in the marriage despite Kody often making it painfully clear about his lack of feelings for Meri. Eventually, Meri had enough of hearing that her husband never loved her and divorced Kody in 2022.
6
Kody & Robyn’s COVID Rules Were All About Them
Social Distancing Hurt The Browns
News broke recently about the tragic death of Garrison, Kody and Janelle’s 25-year-old son, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sadly, Garrison wasn’t on good terms with his father at the time of his death, as they’d been feuding since the COVID-19 pandemic tore the family apart. Several of Kody’s older kids, including Garrison, weren’t able to follow Kody and Robyn’s strict COVID rules and were, therefore, not allowed to see their father. The pandemic separation was painful for everyone involved, and the family was never able to reunite after the pandemic ended.
All of Kody Brown’s children and their ages.
In hindsight, Kody and Robyn’s behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was suspect. Though there’s no doubt that they were scared of the virus, it’s possible that their response was born of a subconscious desire to be alone together with their four kids. That would explain why it was so easy for Kody to simply cut his older kids out of his life for months at a time instead of looking for other solutions. Especially since Kody and Robyn were hypocritical and didn’t always follow the strict viral mitigation rules they wanted everyone else to follow.
5
Kody And Robyn Didn’t Care About Christine Brown’s Jealousy
A Woman Scorned
One major struggle with living in a plural marriage is the ever-hovering specter of jealousy. When Kody was married to his first three wives, he treated them equally and was more capable of managing the green-eyed monster. The delicate balance he had achieved with Meri, Janelle, and Christine was obliterated when Kody married Robyn and made multiple mistakes in the marriage. Not only did he start spending more and more time at Robyn’s house, but it was obvious that his feelings for Robyn were more romantic than his dutiful feelings toward his first three wives.
The jealousy was especially hard on Christine, who made it clear she was having a hard time watching Kody and Robyn’s romance unfold. If Kody had wanted to save his marriage with Christine, he could have easily adjusted his behavior towards Robyn while spending more time with Christine. As the patriarch of a plural family, it’s his duty to treat his wives equally and do everything in his power to make them feel comfortable and loved. Not only did Kody not try to save his marriages, but he actively pushed each of his first three wives away.
4
Robyn Brown Insisted On Being Seated Beside Kody During Family Meetings
In The Power Position
Since Kody married Robyn, it’s impossible not to notice that she always sits next to him during family meetings. This has led to speculation that Robyn has insisted on sitting next to Kody. This could be because Robyn was insecure about her position as the fourth wife and wanted Kody to make a point by seating her directly by his side. Another reason could be due to Robyn always bragging about how she could “speak Kody,” so perhaps she sat near him to translate his words to the rest of the fam
“He kissed me, and I was like ‘All right, well, it’s done. It’s been done.’”
3
Kody Brown Broke Brown Family Rules For Robyn
Kiss And Don’t Tell
During a Sister Wives season 18 episode, Christine talked about how upset she was Kody had kissed Robyn before the wedding. Robyn, who expresses guilt about the kiss, says, “He kissed me, and I was like ‘All right, well, it’s done. It’s been done.’” Before courting Robyn, Kody and his wives had a rule against intimacy before marriage, which included kissing. If Kody, who would often kiss and tell, didn’t stop at just kissing and potentially had sex before marriage.
Another early betrayal involved Robyn’s wedding dress. During an early Sister Wives season 1 episode, Robyn took her future sister wives to help her pick out her wedding dress. The event was a beautiful bonding experience that brought the women together. Later, it was revealed Robyn went back to the dress shop with Kody and picked a different dress. Christine, Meri, and Janelle were shocked by the revelation as the incident set the stage for Robyn’s relationship with her sister wives.
2
Robyn Brown Fat-Shamed The Other Wives
Robyn Is Body Negative
During the Sister Wives season 17 Tell-All, Robyn talked about Christine and Janelle’s bodies in a very problematic way. While trying to defend Kody, Robyn accused his ex-wives of “nagging” and said that when she joined the Brown family, she immediately saw all of Kody’s spouses suffer from “stretch marks” and “weight gain.” The point she was trying to make was that Kody loved his wives despite all their physical flaws, but the comments reflected terribly on her character.
Kody didn’t defend his other wives against Robyn’s cruel words about their bodies.
Robyn also insisted that though these relationships are hard to maintain, the other wives should have gotten off their “butts” and worked it out with Kody. Robyn’s remarks are troubling because she inferred that Kody was a good man for having relationships with his wives despite their fluctuating weights. Setting aside the fact that his wives got stretch marks and gained weight from carrying his children, blaming the wives for their issues with Kody said a lot about Robyn’s commitment to being part of a happy plural family.
1
Kody And Robyn Secretly Wanted Monogamy
Between One Man And One Woman
When Sister Wives first premiered, it was a show about a functional, happy polygamous family that was meant to show viewers how plural marriage could work. In the end, it turned into a show chronicling the dissolution of a plural family. By the time the most recent season. wrapped up, Kody found himself in an accidentally monogamous marriage with Robyn. Though Robyn often gets blamed for driving Kody’s other wives away, Kody is equally responsible for destroying his family.
One by one, Kody’s first three wives walked out on him; first Christine, then Janelle, and finally Meri.
Though Kody once believed he was called by God to live in a plural marriage, he ran out of steam along the way and decided to be monogamous. Since he couldn’t come out and admit he didn’t want to be a polygamist anymore, maybe not even to himself, Kody slowly sabotaged his relationships with his first three wives. With Christine, he leaned on her jealousy to drive her away. With Janelle, he used COVID-19 as an excuse to stop seeing her and her children. Finally, he neglected and mistreated Meri until she couldn’t take it anymore.
