Kody Brown has long been deemed as having a favorite wife, a speculation he had always denied. “It’s not about a favorite, it’s about finding favor,” Kody said on the “Sister Wives” end of season tell-all (via Us Weekly). He openly blamed Christine Brown for starting that notion. “The words that Christine uses incite enmity toward Robyn [Brown]. She never did anything to Christine but be kind to her.”
He further went on to explain that the wives who felt that he had a favorite had character issues. “Do you want to find favor by being loyal to me and never allowing someone to trash talk me?” he said. “Or do you want to sit here and be the one who is trash-talking me?”
Janelle Brown has spoken out about what Kody presumes is her lack of loyalty. “I thought I’d been loyal. I thought Christine had been loyal. But apparently, we’re not loyal enough.” In her opinion, Kody holds loyalty over her head as a punishment or reward. “There’s this undertone of do what I want you to do and then I can love you,” she said.
Kody thinks Janelle has not been loyal
Though Kody Brown never came out and told Janelle Brown that she should be more like Robyn Brown, he insinuated it by the words he chose to explain the situation. “I have somebody in my life who is fundamentally loyal to me, who sees me as the head of the family,” he told Janelle in Season 17, Episode 13 (via TLC). “I’m saying to you that you and I get that if you’re loyal to me.”
After he met with Janelle and told her his feelings on how he thinks their relationship can improve, Kody attempted to explain his position in the “Sister Wives” confessional. “I’m telling Janelle just to be loyal,” he told the cameras during a confessional. While Kody maintained he was not asking Janelle to become like Robyn, he essentially was by comparing her to Robyn and saying that she should do what Robyn is doing. “I have 100 percent loyalty from Robyn,” he said. “So, okay, yeah, I guess that’s (being) like Robyn. Nope. I’m just asking for loyalty. I’m asking to be the head of my household.”
Janelle refuses to bow down to Kody’s wishes
Janelle Brown quickly saw through Kody Brown’s failed attempt, and though he refused to admit that he wanted her to be like Robyn Brown, it was clear that was his intent. “I mean here he is saying blatantly what I suspected,” she said. “This person is loyal and treats me like the head of the household and if you really want to be a wife to me, this is how you need to be.”
Fans of “Sister Wives” openly revere Janelle for her ability to be a strong woman. Kody wanting Janelle to be loyal may simply equate to him wanting her to become subservient, something that Janelle would not agree to do. “I’m not gonna be this person,” Janelle says. “I’m not gonna become Robyn.”
She also felt frustrated that Kody painted Robyn as a victim and asked him if he would have been that defensive of her if roles were reversed. He then, seemingly out of nowhere, turned the tables on Janelle. “You and I have been acting like we weren’t a married couple for most of our marriage, Janelle,” he said. “I don’t know why it’s been OK for so many years, and it’s not now, but you actually live like a single woman.” In the end, Kody got his wish because Janelle left him, and they became separated not long after Christine Brown divorced Kody.
