Kody Brown, the self-proclaimed patriarch of the polygamist Brown family, is left with only one wife, Robyn Brown, following the dissolution of his relationships with Meri, Janelle, and Christine Brown, all of whom have embarked on their own personal journeys in the aftermath, making the controversial polygamist question his ways.
One of the hardest breakups for Kody was Janelle, his second wife, whom he spiritually married in 1993. After almost 30 years of marriage, Kody and Janelle split, making their separation public in late 2022. There was no single reason preceding their decision, but a number of smaller issues the couple had been dealing with for years.
From Kody’s disapproval of Janelle’s independence to forcing her to buy a house she didn’t want, the star of TLC’s long-running “Sister Wives” also pushed his second wife over the edge with his super strict COVID-19 rules. While he did want to reconcile and work things out between them, Janelle decided it was best not to go down that road.
Kody wasn’t happy with Janelle’s RV purchase
While the Brown plural family purchased the Coyote Pass land in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2018, they didn’t start building on it immediately. At the time, Kody Brown promised his four wives each a house of their own. Until their dream spaces came to life, the joint family had to figure out their living situation. Janelle Brown decided to buy herself an RV to live in until her home was built, which she shared on Instagram.
“The rental where I was living was sold, and I chose an alternative path to trying to find another rental … Presenting my new summer adventure — the RV life but camped on our property,” Janelle captioned the post. However, her adventurous decision didn’t sit right with her polygamist husband. Despite Janelle’s excitement, Kody rained on her parade during a Season 17 episode of “Sister Wives.” He argued, “We should’ve never bought the RV because we’re going to be moving it all the time … I’m struggling because I’m not optimistic about how this is going to come together,” per Us Weekly.
He also urged Janelle to seek approval from the rest of the family in the future for anything regarding the Coyote Pass property. “I don’t need their permission. We’ve already agreed. I do not have time for this,” Janelle reasoned, visibly annoyed with Kody’s interference. During his confessional, the proud polygamist complained that Janelle acts like they aren’t married by constantly making decisions by herself.
The patriarch urged Janelle to buy a house she didn’t want
When Christine Brown decided to leave Kody Brown in 2021, she also wanted to move away from Arizona, listing her house for sale. Kody hated the idea of losing the place, and since he couldn’t afford it himself after investing in the Coyote Pass land, he urged Janelle Brown to step in and buy it for the family. However, as Janelle also purchased a part of Coyote Pass, she didn’t have the money for yet another property investment.
“I can’t afford both house mortgages,” she stated in a Season 17 episode, adding that she felt like Kody was “using her for her money,” (via Entertainment Tonight). Later, a frustrated Janelle was seen yelling “I want my own house,” at Kody, with him responding, “Yeah, but we’re a year from that, even if we start building right away.”
The Brown patriarch ultimately highlighted the infamous RV purchase as the reason Janelle couldn’t afford another mortgage, adding that she doesn’t respect him. “If she can’t work with me to solve the problems, then she gets to solve the problems on her own,” Kody stated. Christine’s house ultimately sold for $700,000, but nobody from the Brown family was the buyer.
Janelle banned Kody from her house during COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the plural Brown family had a tough time getting together simply because there are so many of them. Amidst all that was happening, Janelle Brown opted to ban Kody from coming over to her house, causing the patriarch a lot of confusion. As two of their adult sons, Garrison and Gabriel Brown, posed a certain risk to others in the family due to their lifestyle choices and employment circumstances, Janelle figured it was best for Kody to stay put at his own house.
“Instead of sitting here and waiting to be told or having something horrible happen that makes a decision, I’m just going to make the decision. I want Kody to stay away from my home until we can figure out how bad this is going to get,” Janelle said in a Season 16 episode of the show, as People reported at the time. Kody responded by asserting, “I don’t know why she’s just calling me and telling me just like, ‘Hey, this is the way it’s going to be’,” implying that he wasn’t a part of the decision-making process.
As Janelle was having a hard time making the decision in question, she jokingly said Kody “owed her” for being that brave, which the polygamist didn’t take too well. “That’s a statement of pressure,” Kody said, visibly stirred up, adding that he wasn’t pleased with how Janelle handled the overall situation.
The exes clashed over Kody’s strict pandemic rules
COVID-19 regulations caused another major rift between Kody and Janelle Brown, but this time around, it was Kody’s rules that were the problem. The patriarch made everyone in the family follow strict directions if they wanted to socialize with him, including wiping their mail down with alcohol wipes and changing immediately upon entering the house.
During a Season 16 episode, Janelle and Kody got into a heated argument over the family’s holiday plans. In order to spend Thanksgiving with the family residing in Arizona, according to Kody’s rules, Janelle would have to quarantine due to some of her children not respecting the restrictions their dad had imposed on them. Instead, Janelle decided to go to Utah with her then-sister wife, Christine Brown, even though Kody guilt-tripped her for it, per People.
The patriarch claimed that he only wanted everyone to understand his perspective and to respect it, adding that it was Janelle’s fault for being away from the majority of the family for the holidays as she allowed her sons’ lax behavior. “You know, f*** off,” Janelle told him in response before walking away, leaving Kody questioning whether he was “being a bully.”
Kody wanted to patch things up with Janelle
While Janelle and Kody Brown have had more explosive fights, this one might’ve stung the patriarch the most. During a Season 17 episode of “Sister Wives,” Kody admitted that he felt like Janelle was pushing him away despite all of his efforts to make their marriage work. As People noted, Kody stated that he and Janelle have always acted like they weren’t spouses, adding that it has always worked for them and additionally accusing Janelle of behaving like she’s single.
Janelle, in response, acknowledged that she likes being independent and feels like that is the main point of plural marriage. “Maybe this doesn’t work anymore for me. I don’t know,” she added, implying that their relationship dynamic had changed. Kody jumped back into the conversation by protesting that they needed to figure it out. In his confessional, Kody explained he felt “so rejected by [Janelle]” because he’d been asking her for more and hadn’t got it.
Janelle, on the other hand, felt like they weren’t as compatible as they used to be. “I still have so much affection for Kody. I don’t know if it’s love,” the second sister wife shared in her own solo interview. By the end of the episode, Kody argued that COVID-19 was the catalyst behind the Browns’ downfall. “It just seems like the family is going in different directions. And it’s actually very sad,” he sorrowfully concluded.
