‘Sister Wives’ Star Kody Brown Seems to Blame Christine Brown for His Distant Relationship With His Children
Kody Brown appears to be spending all of season 17 of Sister Wives trying to blame his ex-wife for problems she has absolutely nothing to do with. In a clip for an upcoming episode, Kody laments his distant relationship with several of his children, including Ysabel Brown, who, in the forthcoming episode, is preparing to leave for college. The plural family’s patriarch refuses to take responsibility for his troubled relationships, though. Instead, he seems set on blaming Christine Brown for the problems.
Kody Brown has a distant relationship with most of his children
Kody Brown’s relationship troubles aren’t confined to his romantic relationships. Since moving from Las Vegas to Flagstaff, Arizona, Kody has had a pretty expansive falling out with his children. Some of Kody and Janelle Brown’s sons aren’t speaking to him after battling over coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
Kody also has a distant relationship with several of the daughters he shares with Christine Brown and seems to be largely uninvolved in the life of Leon Brown, the child Kody shares with his estranged first wife, Meri Brown. While Kody seemed like an active and involved father when Sister Wives began in 2010, he’s slowly faded out of his children’s lives. Why exactly is that, though? Kody has one explanation, while his wives and children seem to have another.
The Brown family patriarch appears to blame Christine Brown for his troubled relationship with some of his children
Kody Brown seems to waffle between bafflement and blameshifting in season 17 of Sister Wives. In the first few episodes of the season, he was confused by Christine’s decision to leave. Later in the season, he shifted strategies and blamed Christine for their failed marriage. Now, he’s accusing her of ruining his relationship with his children. Most recently, he sat down for a confessional and waffled between the two sentiments while discussing his relationship, or lack thereof, with Ysabel Brown, his second youngest child with his ex-wife.
In a recently released clip, Kody notes that he doesn’t understand why Ysabel isn’t “open” to him. He explained that whenever he spends time with Ysabel, he spends most of the time trying to “draw her out.” He initially claimed he didn’t know what the problem was, but, in the next breath, he offered an explanation that was a clear attempt to shift the blame onto Christine Brown.
In the clip obtained by People, Kody accused Christine of using her influence over the children to turn them against him. He said, “she sits there and talks to the kids, she has their ear. I do not have their ear.” While Christine certainly does have more influence over the children than he does, she doesn’t seem to be actively trying to destroy Kody’s relationship with his kids. From everything we’ve seen in this season, and previous seasons of Sister Wives, Kody Brown doesn’t need any help creating problems within his polygamist family.
The real reason Kody Brown’s kids aren’t talking to him
While Kody Brown is busy blaming his ex-wife for his troubled relationships, she hardly seems at fault. Christine has made it clear that she has invited Kody to multiple events. She’s encouraged a connection between him and his children for many years. Kody’s active disengagement from his children seems to be the core reason for their relationship woes.
In a recent episode of Sister Wives, Janelle Brown and Christine Brown have both noted that several of Kody’s children with Janelle are not speaking to him because they don’t care for the way he treats their mother. The estrangement is not new, though. Janelle spoke of the estrangement in season 16.
Christine pointed out that the Brown kids, including several of her own, have noticed Kody’s clear favoritism for Robyn Brown, his fourth wife. He also seems to actively favor the children they share. Unequal treatment, a lack of engagement, and emotional outbursts have been noted as the reason for the rift between Kody and his kids by everyone. Everyone but Kody, that is.
