Janelle Brown, Fame of ‘Sister Wives’ Claims That Her Family Was 'Doomed to Fail'

During the recent Sister Wives Talk Back episode, Janelle Brown answered a fan who questioned why her now ex-husband Kody Brown is still "so angry when it seems like he's getting what he wanted," which is a monogamous relationship. Janelle believed that "part of [Kody's] anger" was a result of his vision of a large, loving family "dissolving."

As reported by People, Janelle said, "I will say, there was a lot of time that what Kody wanted was this big, unified family. When we all came together, we decided to have the children treat each other like brothers and sisters. So that was a huge goal of his for many, many, many years."  She added, "I think maybe this is where we were headed. He just didn't want to admit it because he was starting to say things like, 'I'm tired of shouldering the work here,' 'I'm tired of being the one who carries these relationships.'" Janelle is also very sure that the breakdown of the poly family is the reason for Kody's present anger management problems. She hypothesized that Kody was harmed by the breakup of the family. Janelle speculates that Kody may be mourning the passing of his ideal family. 

Meri Brown said during the episode that there has been a lot of conjecture over the cause of the problem. Meri said, "Was it bringing Robyn into the family? Was it going public? Was it moving to Las Vegas? You know, all these things that it could have been. I do not agree it was any one thing. I think it was a combination of things and also that we kind of quit wanting to work together as a family. Look, we had our problems. There's a big dynamic when you have those personalities, but we worked very hard together for the sake of the children." In the tell-all, Meri—who was married to Kody for more than thirty years before disclosing their divorce—was questioned about Kody's emotions. Meri claimed to have heard Kody talk so badly, but she had moved beyond caring about his emotions. She doesn't seem to be in communication with her ex-husband.

During the same Talk Back episode, Janelle said that she was content with her timeline when another fan questioned whether she wished she had "left sooner." Before Janelle declared their split in December 2022, the two had been spiritually married for over thirty years. She said, "I would’ve stayed if Kody had stayed the father that he was for my kids for many, many years. But when the relationship with the kids broke down, that cost was no longer a factor." Before their 2022 breakup, Janelle and Kody had an unconventional poly marriage. Long before Janelle and Kody were spiritually united in 1993, their lives were entwined. Before William Winn Brown passed away in 2013, Janelle's late mother, Sheryl Brown, and Kody's father were married for several years.