Sister Wives: All The Ways Kody Brown Abandoned His Family
In the first Sister Wives tell-all interview since Christine Brown, 49, left the family, interviewer Sukanya Krishnan struck a chord with patriarch Kody Brown after she accused him of "abandoning" members of his family. Kody's heated reaction to the term suggests it's not the first time he's been accused of this, and he may be feeling guilty, perhaps with good reason. Here are all of the ways Kody seems to have abandoned his family.
Fans of the series have routinely commented on the fact that Kody's been losing his sense of humor and showing obvious favoritism in recent seasons. His callous attitude towards his relationship with his first wife, despite Meri Brown's attempts to atone for past indiscretions, and the similar indifference he showed toward Christine have left a sour taste in the viewers' mouths. The shift in Kody's attitude toward his family has possibly caused more damage than he can repair.
In an emotionally charged interview, Kody vehemently opposed the accusation that he has "abandoned" his family, although many members of his family have accused him of this throughout the past two seasons of the series. Kody's increasingly negative opinions about plural marriage have cast shade on his relationships with his wives. Most noticeably, Kody's shameless emotional abandonment of Meri has some questioning why she stays around at all. Kody claims that he and Meri have a good friendship, but many fans see their "lack of trust" as punishment for prior sins.
It's clear that Kody's intimacy issues with Meri began long before the catastrophic catfishing incident several seasons ago. At the time, Kody handled the situation with some grace and offered sympathy to Meri, although he obviously felt betrayed. However, Kody's growing bitterness towards Meri has made the incident a crutch that Kody uses to punish her emotionally. Christine, whom Kody also routinely withholds emotional and physical intimacy from, has also felt the sting of abandonment.
Both Christine and Janelle expressed deep frustration with Kody throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, regarding his infrequent contact with them and their children. Kody said that he was no longer "obligated" to his older children. Gabe Brown's heartbreaking conversation with his father, after months of isolation from him, was hard to watch. As well, Kody's inability to set aside his own fears and accompany his and Christine's daughter Ysabel Brown to a very important spinal surgery suggested to the family (and fans of the series) that Kody was using the pandemic as an excuse to distance himself from their already troubled relationships.
In previous seasons, Kody was diligent when it came to keeping the Sister Wives clan as physically close as possible, so as to promote kinship and emotional bonding. However, Kody's inability to keep the family together after the move to Arizona acted as a catalyst for the dissolution of his marriage with Christine. It also triggered the cold attitude his older children are displaying towards him. Kody's unwillingness to drop his stubborn attitude for the sake of the emotional well-being of his family has left them all feeling abandoned.