‘Sister Wives’: 4 Instances of Kody and Robyn Financially Abusing Meri and Janelle
Some shocking revelations about the family’s financial situation have come to light in Sister Wives Season 17. Some Sister Wives fans believe that Kody Brown is financially abusing his “spiritual” wives, Meri Brown and Janelle Brown, for the gain of his fourth wife, Robyn Brown. Here are four instances that back up their claims.
Meri and Janelle’s paid off Robyn’s $32,000 debt
In the Sister Wives Season 4 premiere, Robyn just married Kody and brought a massive amount of credit card debt into the family. As the family prepares to leave Utah for Las Vegas to flee the ongoing investigation against Kody, they fear Robyn’s debt could keep them from getting approved for their homes there.
According to Starcasm, in 2007, Robyn took on the debt from her first marriage to David Jessop during their divorce. The outlet revealed the debt was over $32,000 from stores including Victoria’s Secret, Target, and Sears. And with the help of the family’s money, mostly made up of Janelle and Meri’s income as they were the primary breadwinners for the family, they paid off Robyn’s debt.
Meri and Janelle’s money paid for Robyn and Kody’s $900,000 house
Sister Wives Season 17 revealed that Janelle and Meri gave the proceeds of their Las Vegas homes to Robyn for her to purchase the $900,000 house in Flagstaff, which she currently shares with Kody and their five children.
Janelle said the family’s financial decisions put her in a “stupid position” with no assets to her name. “I gave half the proceeds from my house in Vegas to Robyn.” Based on Janelle’s Las Vegas home selling price, she gave $300,000 to Robyn for her house.
In the November 27 episode of Sister Wives, Meri revealed that she also gave Robyn money for her house. “When I sold my house in Vegas, I gave my money that I made from that house to Robyn so that she could buy her house here in Flagstaff,” Meri said.
Kody doesn’t have functioning marriages with Janelle and Meri but expects them to pay off the Coyote Pass property
As Kody and Janelle’s marriage continues to unravel, Janelle wants the family to prioritize paying off the family’s Coyote Pass land so she can start building her house. Kody is frustrated with Janelle’s plans to live in a fifth-wheel trailer while she saves up to pay off the property and build on her parcel of land.
For over a decade, Kody and Meri’s marriage has slowly been reduced to nothing more than a friendship. Despite this, he has hopes that Meri, who owns a successful bed and breakfast in Utah, will put her hard-earned money into paying off the family’s property.
He said in the recent episode that he hopes Meri will be the next to build on Coyote Pass. “I want that,” he tells the cameras. “So she’ll be partnering with us on what we want to accomplish out here, especially getting it paid off,” he concludes.
Robyn never had a job but has consistently had childcare
Besides her now-defunct jewelry business, My Sister Wife’s Closet, Robyn has never financially contributed to the family. Despite this, Robyn has always managed to consistently have childcare since joining the family, from babysitters to live-in nannies.
Janelle revealed in the latest episode, “I’m the one who gives the taxes to the accountant. I see how the money was dispersed from the family account.” She said “there was enough money outside of the debts and our daily expenses that was spent on other things “that could have been used to pay off the family property.
Despite Robyn never contributing to the family account, she said, “You know, we’ve always worked together to take care of the whole family. We worked together to buy Christine her house. We worked together to take care of the kids.”
These many instances prove Kody and Robyn have abused Janelle and Meri financially and drained their bank accounts for their own gain. So despite their lack of marriage with Kody, he’s still using the wives’ incomes to bankroll his lifestyle with Robyn and their five children.
New episodes of Sister Wives Season 17 air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
