Kody Brown Subtly Badmouthed Meri Brown’s Brother in ‘Sister Wives’ Tell-All Episode While Defending His Marriage to Robyn Brown

Kody Brown has said many awful things about his first wife, Meri Brown. The former polygamist spent years criticizing her every move and playing mind games with her. Now that she’s long gone, he’s largely stopped speaking about her, but it does feel like Kody Brown inadvertently threw shade at his first wive’s brother during the Sister Wives tell-all episodes. 

Kody Brown claims he vetted Robyn Brown before bringing her into the family 

Kody Brown seemed to take issue with Christine Brown’s decision to start dating after their divorce. He also tried to rationalize the negative things she said about him. Kody theorized that Christine had to speak badly about him because no one would want to date her if they knew she left a “good man.” 

Kody then insisted that he put in the leg work to ensure his fourth and now only wife, Robyn Brown, hadn’t left a “good man” herself. He seemed to imply that he would not have involved himself with a woman if he felt they stepped away from a marriage for a reason he didn’t find acceptable. 

Fans question if Kody was throwing shade at Meri Brown’s brother

Kody might have been talking about Robyn Brown in this instance. Still, you can read between the lines. Sister Wives fans wonder if Kody was inadvertently throwing shade at Meri Brown’s brother with his statement about ensuring his wife wasn’t leaving a “good man.” 

Kody claims he vetted Robyn to ensure her divorce wasn’t morally objectionable to him. Does that mean he did the same when courting Janelle Brown? Kody and Janelle married in 1993, but it was not a first marriage for her. She had divorced Adam Barber, Meri Brown’s brother, shortly before hooking up with Kody. 

If Kody “vetted” Janelle in the same way, he must be suggesting that Adam was not what he considered a “good man.” Kody had made previous comments to suggest he took issue with Adam. In an earlier Sister Wives season, Kody Brown commented about knowing how women speak about their ex-husbands since he married two divorced women. 

Did Adam Barber ever appear on ‘Sister Wives’?

Meri’s brother, Adam, might have been heavily connected to the Brown family, but it doesn’t seem like he had any interest in weighing in on their polygamist lifestyle, at least not on television. Despite having a large network of siblings, Sister Wives fans were only ever introduced to Meri’s mother, Bonnie Ahlstrom. Bonnie died in 2021. 

Adam Barber died in October 2023 after deciding to stop cancer treatments. He was 54. Meri took to Instagram to pay tribute to her brother following his death. Janelle Brown and Kody Brown made no public comment and did not appear to attend the funeral.