The Brown family of Alaskan Bush People fame is no stranger to controversy. People have questioned whether matriarch Ami Brown is actually sick. Or whether she is as sick as Discovery Channel has led us to believe she is. People have questioned the reality of relationships that Brown children have been shown to have on the show. Lots of questions have arisen from time to time about this family and how real their reality show is.
One thing that fans have long believed was fake is something that the show is built on. Do the Browns even live in Alaska? Adding to the skepticism on this topic is the very real legal issues the family ran into while back with the state of Alaska. The state has a fund from which they pay their residents yearly dividends. To claim these dividends, paperwork has to be completed and submitted. Several members of Alaskan Bush People clan were charged with falsifying that paperwork. They were charged with not actually living in Alaska for most of the year, a qualification for receiving dividends. Not only were they found guilty of fraud, they were also required to repay dividends they had received from 2009 to 2013. So even the state of Alaska doesn’t believe that the Browns live in Alaska most of the time.
At the end of last season, the family was considering moving to Colorado. Christmas was spent at some rental property in Los Angeles. They’ve been spotted in Seattle, Hawaii, Oregon, and Las Vegas. So where is home?
As In Touch Weekly pointed out, they have spent at least some time filming in Alaska. But was it out in the bush? In the middle of nowhere? It doesn’t really seem that way. They were able to order pizza and are close enough to neighbors that they have complained about the production crew now and then, so they aren’t too remote. And the reports of them living in a lodge in Hoonah, Alaska aren’t just a few. There are many such reports. So who knows.
There are two things worth mentioning when it comes to whether or not Alaskan Bush People is faking it regarding the place the Browns call home. First is that Billy and Ami have stated before that they have spent 40 Christmases in 40 different locations, so they clearly admit that they move around frequently. And second, there is the word of one of Matt Brown’s ex-girlfriends who said that he told her that he and his family lived in Haines, Alaska until he was a teenager.
So the verdict? Is Alaskan Bush People fake? Well, it seems that they live in Alaska sometimes, but not exactly in the bush. We just don’t know exactly where, if anywhere, they call home.