‘Sister Wives’: 5 Relationships Kody Brown Has Ruined Due to His COVID-19 Rules
The way Kody Brown handled the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Sister Wives Season 16 and 17 has forever changed the history of his family. Kody’s strict protocol and apparent favoritism toward Robyn Brown and her children have caused Kody’s many other relationships to suffer. Some of them have been broken beyond repair. Here are the five relationships Kody has ruined since the coronavirus pandemic.
Gabriel
In Sister Wives Season 16, Kody asked his sons, Gabriel and Garrison, not to see their girlfriends, work, or go to school out of fear of spreading the virus to the rest of the family. Kody said they must follow his rules, not just the CDC recommendations, or he would not see them.
When Gabriel confronted Kody, their relationship only got worse. He begged his father to be around them more so they could function as a family again. But Kody stuck to his rules. That paired with his father’s alleged favoritism toward Robyn and her children became too much for Gabriel. At the season 16 reunion, Kody admitted he and his son need to go to therapy to patch up their relationships, which clearly they haven’t done.
In Sister Wives Season 17, Gabriel opened up about the state of his relationship with his dad. “Me and my dad, we don’t talk as much as we used to. Ever since we talked about COVID and stuff, and I voiced how I was not appreciating how he was handling it, tensions have been really high,” he told the cameras.
“It just seems like he’s tired of putting effort in maintaining something with me,” the 21-year-old said of his relationship with his father. He holds back tears as he tries to figure out what he did “wrong.” But Kody just insists that his son is trying to “gaslight” him.
Ysabel
In Sister Wives Season 17 Kody admitted to not know how to relate to his 18-year-old daughter, Ysabel anymore. ”You know, anytime I spent time with Ysabel, I spent most of my time doing a lot of work to draw her out of herself. I don’t know what it is,” he said.
The father of 18 is having difficulty understanding why his relationship with his daughter is suffering. “I don’t think I’m that big of an ogre. I don’t know why she’s not talking to me. I’m open to her. I don’t know what it is,” Kody said. Of course, Kody blames Christine for his lack of relationship with Ysabel.
In Sister Wives Season 16, Ysabel was finally able to get her scoliosis surgery after years of waiting. The problem for Kody was that it was in the height of the pandemic and would require him to travel to New Jersey. Most importantly, he would have to be away from his youngest children, Solomon and Ariella for weeks. So he opted to stay home. Ysabel was heartbroken that her father didn’t go to support her.
Now, Kody is facing the fallout of his consequences. After Ysabel’s graduation, she leaves for college in another state. Unfortunatly, that means there’s no time for her father to patch up things with her. And, last thing Ysabel told cameras about her relationship with her dad was that she’s not close to him “at all.”
Christine
As fans know, throughout the pandemic, Christine pushed the boundaries of Kody’s strict coronavirus protocol, causing the fractured marriage to split apart entirely. When Christine confronted Kody about coming over to her house more, he said he couldn’t because she was traveling and he was scared for his health.
Kody spent almost 15 months of the pandemic locked down with his fourth wife, Robyn. Christine’s marriage struggled for over a decade, but she stuck it out. She decided to leave for many reasons — Kody’s lack of intimacy with her, him refusing to be there for Ysabel, and the favoritism toward Robyn and her children. This is one of many relationships Kody destroyed permanently during that time. And in season 17, Christine divorced Kody after nearly 27 years of marriage.
Truely
Throughout Sister Wives Seasons 16 and 17, Christine had asked Kody to come over to her house more for Truely’s sake, but it was just happening less and less. He was around so little during the pandemic that Truely didn’t even notice when her father stopped coming around.
So when Christine finally told Truely she was divorced from Kody, the 11-year-old was surprisingly alright with the news. “She seemed to have dealt with it either very well or — I’m not a psychologist — I’m just a s*** parent — but maybe she just buried it emotionally,” Kody said of the conversation he had with Truely.
He was “shocked” that Truely wasn’t “devastated” about leaving the family and moving to Utah. After the conversation with her father, Truely felt disappointed by how little he tried to connect with her. She said “it never really went beyond” a shallow conversation.
Janelle
Janelle prides herself on her independence. So when Kody’s strict regulations regarding coronavirus made her feel controlled, she began having issues with her marriage. Regardless of whether or not Janelle adhered to the rules, he wouldn’t come to her house.
When Kody tried to kick out her sons from the house, that’s when things changed the most for Janelle. So she chose her going to visit her older children over him. This caused a clear divide in the family. With Christine and Janelle on one side and Kody, Robyn, and Meri on the other.
While it’s not confirmed that Janelle’s marriage is over, Kody did do a lot of damage to it due to his need for control. In the Sister Wives Season 17 super teaser (via People), Kody tells Janelle, “You and I have been acting like we weren’t a married couple for most of our marriage Janelle.” She fights back, telling the cameras, “If he can’t handle my independence, I don’t know if this works for me anymore.”
Will Kody be able to mend any of the relationships? Fans will have to keep watching Sister Wives Season 17 to find out more.
New episodes of Sister Wives Season 17 air Sundays at 10 p.m. EST on TLC.
