Janelle Brown of ‘Sister Wives’ Reveals What Would Have Forced Kody Brown to ‘Toe the Line’ In His Polygamist Marriage

Janelle Brown’s relationship with Kody Brown might be over, but disentangling herself from her plural marriage has been a challenge. In the latest episode of Sister Wives, Janelle reflected on how stronger legal protections could have helped her in her marriage to Kody. That also would have made it easier to exit the relationship once it had run its course, she said. 

Janelle Brown said Kody Brown might have behaved differently if all his wives had a legal marriage 

For years, Kody was spiritually married to four women: Janelle, Christine, Meri Brown, and Robyn Brown. But laws against polygamy meant that he could only have one legal wife. Because Kody was only legally bound to one woman, that left his other wives vulnerable financially. As Janelle explained, there’s nothing stopping polygamist husbands like Kody from dropping one of their spiritual wives without a second thought. 

“In theory, a man can just ghost a wife,” she said in a solo interview in the Nov. 12 episode of Sister Wives. “He can stop coming over, he can stop paying any kind of support toward her household. He’s not legally obligated and she can make no legal claim on him.” 

If Kody had been legally married to all his wives, he might have behaved differently, Janelle said during a conversation with Christine and her family.  

“I think, and this will never happen, but all you got to do is give those women a legal marriage … because they can take and they can divorce him and take part of his assets,” she said. “Like, honestly, if they were all legally married to him, he’d really have to toe the line.”

Christine agreed. “It would be awesome to have the legal marriage because then you are protected,” she said.

The ‘Sister Wives’ star wishes she was financially independent 

Because Janelle and Kody never had a legal marriage, it seems like it should be easy for her to walk away from the relationship. However, not having the option to formally divorce Kody actually puts her and Kody’s other spiritual wives – at a disadvantage. 

“Basically, what Janelle is saying is if I would have had a legal marriage with Kody, and if she would have had a legal marriage with Kody, and Meri too, that when it came down to leave, it would also be a legal divorce,” Christine explained. “Which would mean it would be a 50-50 split, of everything.”

Without the legal protection of marriage, Janelle has struggled to separate her assets, including the Coyote Pass property, from Kody’s. 

​​”I’m sitting here because my finances are all so mish-mashed right now with everybody’s that I’m having to fight hard to get my estate separated,” she explained to Christine and her family. 

“I really feel strongly that women should be empowered in plural marriage with financial choices … that would level the playing field,” Janelle said in her interview. 

“Christine was able to sell her house and leave and start over again and do something different,” she added. “I have no idea if I’m even going to get anything.”

New episodes of Sister Wives air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC. 

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.