‘Sister Wives’: Everything That Caused Gabriel To End His Relationship With His Father Kody
One of the most heartbreaking moments in Sister Wives history was when Gabriel ‘Gabe’ Brown broke down about cutting his father, Kody Brown, out of his life. Many situations led up to Gabriel making this decision. Let’s look back at everything that happened in Gabriel and Kody’s relationship that caused it to become estranged.
Gabriel called out Robyn as the mastermind behind the strict COVID rules
In Sister Wives Season 16, Kody told Janelle’s sons, Gabriel and Garrison Brown, that if they wanted to be around him, they must be self-quarantined, so they don’t give the coronavirus (COVID-19) to the rest of the family. That means no job, no school, no seeing friends, and no seeing girlfriends.
Gabriel clarified that he disagreed with his father’s strict rules. He says in the confessional, “I’m pissed. I think we should be all like together. I literally don’t understand why we are all quarantining separate.”
Janelle told her son fighting over the rules is not worth the “damage to the relationships.” However, Gabriel thinks it’s more damaging to the relationships not to see each other. Then, Gabriel asks the million-dollar question: “So is it Robyn, or is it dad?” Janelle hesitated a moment before replying, “I think it’s dad.” She tells Gabe, “He’s an independent decision-maker.” But Gabe doesn’t believe Robyn isn’t influencing Kody’s decisions.
It was revealed in Sister Wives Season 17 that Janelle’s sons had texted Robyn about the coronavirus rules, asking her to relax. She was offended that they thought it was her behind them. She maintained throughout the pandemic that Kody was making the rules and she was just following orders. Kody is now demanding Janelle make her sons apologize to Robyn.
Kody asked Janelle to kick Gabriel out of the house during the pandemic
In another episode of Sister Wives Season 16, Kody tells Janelle that if Gabriel and Garrison can’t abide by his strict rules, he wants Janelle to kick them out. Janelle says she doesn’t want to evict her sons because they’re using this time living at home to save money for their future. Kody interrupts her and says, “They’re adults. Bye-bye.”
Kody tells the cameras, “Listen, I’ve been sympathetic to this situation with Janelle and her kids this entire time. And I tolerated a lot, for a very long time, until I realized that I was being lied to or deceived. And at that point was when I sort of lost my patience with it. I’m like, ‘You need to just make the boys move out.'”
Kody was irritated that Janelle’s name was on the lease and that he couldn’t evict them. “I’m gonna have Gabriel and Garrison move out of the house,” Kody said. However, Janelle stood up for her sons and, in the end, chose to see her kids daily instead of Kody.
Gabriel pleaded for a closer relationship with his dad
Later that season, Gabriel confronts his dad for their lack of a relationship. He tells Kody that it’s unfair that he’s forced to choose between his girlfriend and his father. He says, “Why was I made to make that decision?” Check out the video below (via Instagram):
Janelle tells the cameras just how hard Kody’s rules have been on her kids. “My kids look forward to their dad being home. My kids adore their dad. This has all been very hard for them that he’s all of a sudden being so dictatorial about his rules,” she said in the confessional.
Later in the episode, Gabriel tears up and tells Kody he’s done “two-week quarantines” from his girlfriend so he can see him. Instead of taking responsibility for not having a consistent relationship with his son, Kody makes excuses and blames Janelle and Christine.
Kody replies, “Yes, and your mother is the Teflon queen. It bounces off of her onto everybody else.” She says that Janelle was the one that made it so that they couldn’t see each other in the last nine months. “Basically, it’s a blame game,” Gabriel says.
“I think Gabriel is just trying so hard to get his dad to get his dad to have a relationship with him again,” Janelle tells the cameras.
Kody forgets Gabriel’s birthday
The final straw for Gabriel was detailed on the December 4 episode of Sister Wives. In a confessional interview, Gabriel said he and his dad had a “small discussion” on the phone about his experience with coronavirus on October 11, 2021. “I shouldn’t have done this, but I did anyway. I didn’t remind him that it was my birthday because I wanted to see if he remembered, and he didn’t,” he continued.
Gabriel said the moment was “just a phone call” to his father, Kody. The then 20-year-old Gabriel broke down in tears in front of the camera. “It was a lot worse than just a phone call for me,” he added.
He said that his dad tried calling him a few hours later to “make up for it” and wish him a happy birthday, but it was too late. “That’s the last time I ever talked to my dad,” Gabriel concluded through tears.
Kody is now estranged from Gabriel, Garrison, and many of his other children.
