‘Sister Wives’: The Brown Family’s Biggest Controversies, Explained

Remember when it seemed like the Brown family’s biggest concern was whether they could legally live in Utah? Though TLC presented one big, happy, plural family when Sister Wives began, viewers have learned that interpersonal drama has plagued the Browns for decades, especially with the arrival of Kody’s fourth wife, Robyn.

Viewers have seen the family argue over their issues via TLC’s confessionals, and it’s usually Kody and sometimes Robyn on one side, and one or more of his other wives on the other. Ahead of Season 20’s premiere on September 28, we’re sharing our picks for the biggest controversies within the family.

7. Coyote Pass Developments (or the Lack Thereof)

For years, the Browns’ property in Flagstaff, Arizona, was a thorn in their side. The family vetoed Kody’s idea for living under one roof, but disagreements about the division of land persisted, even after Christine gave up her share.

At one point, Kody’s name was on all four parcels, Robyn’s and Janelle’s were on two each, and Meri had just a fraction of one parcel. And as the discord continued, Meri and Janelle talked about lawyering up.

6. Kody and Meri’s Protracted Breakup

You gotta give Meri points for trying. Kody’s first wife waited for years for their marriage to improve before finally calling it a day, and along the way, viewers saw Kody react coldly to her efforts.

“Kody actually said to me. ‘I have no desire, Meri, to have a relationship with you. You can stick around, and you can come visit me and Robyn and the kids if you want, but we’re never going to have a marriage relationship anymore,’” she said on the show.

5. Kody’s Blow-Up With Janelle

Kody and Janelle hardly had a merry Christmas when Kody blamed Janelle for corrupting his relationship with their children, and Janelle accused him of gaslighting her. Kody’s further protestations brought out an uncharacteristic display of anger from Janelle, who told him to shut his bleeping mouth and let her talk.

Kody chose to keep arguing his side, though, throwing a tantrum before leaving Janelle’s place with a slam of the door.

4. Meri’s Catfishing Saga

As Meri and Kody drifted apart, Meri struck up an online “situation” with a male admirer, only to find out the person on the other side of the screen was a woman posing as a man.

As TLC cameras captured the fallout, Meri said the situation wasn’t an affair and wasn’t the breaking point for her and Kody’s marriage, though Kody said in a confessional he was still “extremely angry” about the whole ordeal.

3. The “Knife in the Kidneys”

Christine was the first sister wife to leave Kody, and when she announced her decision to the other spouses, Kody lost his temper and started screaming at her. To wit, he claimed that she hadn’t tried to have a friendly relationship with the other sister wives, that she was trying to take the kids with her, and that the “knife in the kidneys” was that he made sacrifices to keep their relationship going.

2. Kody & Robyn vs. Meri, Janelle & Christine

If there’s one thing that can bring Kody’s first three wives together, it’s their mutual frustration with Robyn and Kody’s relationship. They’ve all spoken out about Robyn and her kids getting a disproportionate share of Kody’s attention, a perspective some of those wives’ children share, too.

“I’m not going to trust someone who says they want family, yet they are fine with Kody only being at their house,” Christine said at one point. “That’s not a family. That’s monogamy.”

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1. Kody’s Estrangement From His Children

The worst of the family’s interpersonal issues, though, is the emotional distance between Kody and some of his children, with Janelle saying on camera that he was “alienated from 90 to 95 percent of his children.” He cut off Maddie, for example, claiming she was a gossip. He had an icy relationship with Gabe and the late Garrison over his Covid-19 rules. And he opted not to go with Ysabel to her spine surgery.

Kody is interested in reconciliation… as long as Robyn can be part of it. “My children will always be my children, and the door will always be open to them,” he said on the show. “They’ve got to come through that door. I’m going to be holding a hand out for that, but I’m going to be holding this hand that’s next to me, and I won’t let go of that hand. I will not cut off Robyn to have a relationship with my children.”

Sister Wives, Season 20 Premiere, Sunday, September 28, 10/9c, TLC

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