is anyone versed in that garbage fire autistic enough to make a post summarizing the major players and their receipts?
I'm a casual viewer of the show, but I'll give it a try. The Browns aren't as milky as the other fundie families in this thread. They didn't force their kids into the polygamist lifestyle, none of the adult children live plural marriage. The adults children are pretty well adjusted. It's shocking that Garrison took his own life. He seemed the most headstrong.
Kody Brown( the patriarch, age 55)
Grew up in the mainstream Mormon church. Coming back home from a missionary trip in his early 20s Kody discovered his parents had become polygamists. Kody decided to follow in his dad's footsteps adopting the lifestyle. He has held various jobs such as marketing and firearms dealing. In recent years, however, no one knows what he does for money besides the show. Kody has fathered 13 kids with his 4 wives and adopted the 3 kids of wife #4. Like Jim Bob Duggar Kody only sees his kids as numbers to bolster his reputation in his respective community. The Kodester has admited he loses interest in his kids once they become adults. In the first season of the show it's obvious that soon-to-be wife #4 Robyn is his new favorite. As of January 2023 Kody is only legally and spiritually married to Robyn Brown.
Meri Brown(nee'Barber)(wife #1, age 53)
The first and originally the legal wife. Similar to Kody's upbringing Meri's parents became polygamists when she was a teen. Kody and Meri legally married in 1990. Her marriage to Kody has been troubled by fertility issues. Meri was only able to give birth to 1 child, Mariah(now Leon), who pooned out in 2022 along with her wife Audrey. In 2014 Meri gave up her legal marriage so that wife #4 Robyn could legally marry Kody. The reason for this was so Kody could adopt Robyn's 3 kids from a previous marriage. After the legal divorce Meri began chatting online with who she thought was a man named Sam. Going by the exchanged between Meri and this person it appeared to be a online afair. Meri later discovered she was being catfished by a woman. The incident caused further strain in her relationsip with Kody. Kody began spending less time with Meri and in later seasons it's revealed the two hadn't been intimate in over a decade. There is speculation among fans that the catfish was in cohoots with a friend of Robyn. Meri finally called it quits with Kody in 2023 announceing their breakup publically that January. Meri opended up a bread and breakfast in 2017 and has been part of the MLM company LuLaRoe since 2016. She has a rocky reltionship with several of the kids with there being verbal abuse allegations.
Janelle Brown(nee' Schriver)(wife #2, age 54)
The second wife. Janelle has 4 sons and 2 daughters with Kody. Sadly it was her son Garrison who passed away. Janelle grew up in the mainstream Mormon Church. Strangely, before spiritually marrying Kody Janelle was legally married to Meri's brother, Adam Barber. Janelle and Adam divorced after 2 years of marriage in 1990. The Brown family doesn't like to talk about this, it's never mentioned on the show. Janelle claims she's never been in a monogamus marrige and doesn't know how to get a divorce when she decided to leave Kody. It was Meri's idea that Kody court her fromer sister-in-law Janelle. Kody and Janelle spiritually married in 1993. Even more strangely, Janelle's mother entered plural marriage with Kody's father sometime after J and K tied the knot. Despite agreeing to live the polygamists lifestyle and birthing 6 kids Janelle prefered working outside the home. Janelle left the childrearing to wife #3 and was the breadwinner of the family. She also managed the family finances. Janelle has worked as a accountant and recently became a life coach. Janelle and Kody's relationship began to sour during the covid pandemic. Kody demanded Janelle kick their sons out of her house when they wouldn't follow the covid prevention protocls he set up. Janelle refused to do this and Kody blames her for his estranged relationship with his sons. Janelle left Kody in 2022. She remains close friends with wife #3.
Christine Woolley(formerly Brown)(nee' Allred)(wife #3, age 51)
Third wife and first to leave. Christine has 5 daughters and 1 son with Kody. Unlike the 3 people above Christine was born in polygamy. In fact her grandfather Rulon Allred is the founder of the Apostolic United Brehren, a more liberal branch of Mormon Fundamentalism. Rulon was assassinated on the orders of rivial polygamous leader Ervil LeBaron. Watch the Hulu documentary Daughters of the Cult to learn more about that. Christine has said growing up she always wantetd to enter plural marriage and be a third wife. Christine spiritually married Kody in 1994. The Kodester admits to marrying Christine for "her pedigree". During the day Christine was the caretaker of the Brown children. Christine was wary of Robyn entering the family and was the first to notice Kody's favortisim towards Robyn. The straw that broke the camel's back was Ysabel's(Christine and Kody's 5th child) Scoliosis. Ysabel devoloped Scoliosis in 2017, the family tried various treatments to help her cope with the pain. In 2020 it was decided that Ysabel would undergo surgery in New Jersey, she would be there for several weeks. Kody refused to accompany Ysabel to New Jersey, saying he couldn't be away from his family(Robyn and her kids) for that long. Christine left Kody in 2021, moving back to Utah. She still has one minor child with Kody, Truely who is 13. Christine met her current husband David Woolley in October of 2022. They married a year later. Janelle and 12 of the Brown children attended the wedding.
watch @48:53 for final straw
Robyn Brown(formerly Jessop)(nee' Sullivan)(wife #4, age 45)
The fourth and now only wife of Kody Brown. Robyn has 2 daughters and 1 son from a previous marriage. With Kody she has a son and daughter. According to Robyn her parents were polygamists. However, fans of the show believe Robyn's mother was more of a "other woman" than a sister wife. Robyn's first marriage to David Jessop was monogamus. The Brown family seems to like "keeping it in the family" as David Jessop is a cousin of Christine. Robyn and Jessop divorced in 2007. She met the Browns in 2009 with Meri suggesting Kody court Robyn. Robyn and Kody spiritually married in 2010. Season 1 of Sister Wives featured the prepartion for and wedding ceremony. In later seasons Robyn claimed that her ex-husband was abusive. This is contridicated by an episode of the show were Robyn's kids are prepering to visit their dad and are quite happy about it as they haven't seen him in awhile. In December of 2014 Robyn legally married Kody after Meri gave up her legal wife status, viewers are told it was Meri's idea. Kody adopted the 3 kids in 2015. Another story viewers are told is that David Jessop gave up parential rights so he would no longer have to pay child support. Fans speculate Jessop was blackmailed into it because of medical bills Dayton(Jessop and Robyn's son) had incurred after a 4-wheeler accident under Kody's watch. Apparently, in exchange for his giving up parental rights Jessop wouldn't be responsible for the medical bills and would be allowed countiued visits with his chidren. Robyn and Kody renege on the visitation part of the deal. Jessop remarried and has 4 kids with his current wife. In February 2023 it was revealed Jessop has Leukemia, a gofundme has been set up. Robyn nor the children have acknowledge Jessop's cancer battle. Besides the My Sisterwife's Closet business the wives briefly had Robyn has never worked. From watching Sister Wives it's obvious Robyn joining the family led to the Brown clan's downfall. Kody found his soulmate in Robyn as has been stated by Christine. Robyn and her children monopolized Kody's time. An example of this is when it was the other wives time with Kody he would still leave their home in the morning to assist Robyn with getting her kids rather for school. He never assisted the other wives with their children in the morning. Family celebrations also changed because of Robyn. Originally the Browns did not celebrate Easter before Robyn joined the family. On her first Easter with the family Robyn threaten to go to her mother's upon learning there would be no Easter celebration.
