'Sister Wives' Star Kody Brown Only Allowed Robyn, Among His Other Wives, to Break a Bizarre Rule

Kody Brown and Robyn Brown’s marriage from Sister Wives is reportedly the main reason for the long-standing tension within the Brown family. Over the years, Kody’s relationships with his other wives broke apart, with each leaving him due to accusations of favoritism toward Robyn. A prime example was when Kody ignored Robyn’s request to connect more with his kids, bluntly stating that his priority was their relationship, not the others. His double standards also caused friction—most notably when he imposed strict rules, like a piercing ban, on all his wives except Robyn.

Kody persuaded his wives to skip even basic earrings because he made them believe that it was against God's plan for women to have any kind of body piercing. He established a rigorous family policy by enforcing the same no-piercing rule on his kids. However, the rules changed when Robyn came along. She continued wearing her earrings even after marrying Kody, and her children weren’t held to the same rule either. This blatant exception left his other wives furious, deepening the growing rift within the family, as reported by Fandom Wire.

Beyond just implementing the piercing ban, Kody's power over his wife extended to several other oppressive rules that influenced almost every element of their lives. Viewers witnessed his wives' adherence to a rigorous dress code in the early seasons of Sister Wives, which included modest attire with long dresses, high necklines, and three-quarter to full sleeves.

However, over time, the women started to subtly rebel and progressively introduce more modern trends. Kody also believed in the idea of 'sacred loneliness.' As he split his time between his wives, he expected them to accept the fact that they would frequently be lonely. These strict expectations eventually caused their relationships to fall apart. When Kody asked them to follow this rule, Christine Brown shockingly responded, "Sacred loneliness? Like you're supposed to honor the fact that you're lonely?" The patriarch admitted that he imposed the rule because he was fed up with constantly hearing about his wives' feelings of isolation, as reported by Nicki Swift.

Moving ahead, the most important rule was about sharing—Kody demanded that his wives accept and share him without any objection. He believed he required the attention of multiple women to truly fulfill his needs. He once wrote, "To be honest, I am not sure if any one of my wives could fulfill all my needs."

After Christine filed for divorce, Kody forced his wives to follow traditional patriarchal rules. During a season 17 episode, he said, “I’m going to be the head of my household again, and so I’m not going to be circumvented in that. I’m at a point now in my life where I don’t have time to waste on people who won’t respect me or treat me with respect.” His strict COVID rules were another factor in the family’s split. The Sister Wives revealed some of his more extreme demands, like showering after grocery trips and disinfecting mail with alcohol wipes. However, the most stringent rule was his social distancing mandate, which led to months of Kody not seeing most of his wives and children, as reported by ScreenRant.