Kody Brown walked away from Sister Wives ahead of season 21, but he is still haunting his ex-wives amid drama over the sale of their land.
“I feel like the apology tour was in the end something he was trying to redeem himself with,” Janelle Brown said of Kody, 57, during the Sunday, October 4, premiere of the hit TLC series. “And I don’t think it was necessarily that sincere because there’s been no contact since. And he very publicly [torpedoed] my character afterwards. … So I — f*** him.”
Janelle, 57, noted that Kody’s claims during the season 20 reunion — which aired in January — particularly that she wanted to do a “backdoor deal” with him and cut out Meri Brown in their Coyote Pass sale, were totally untrue.
“As a parting gift because Kody and Robyn [Brown] aren’t filming with us anymore, he felt like he should make up this story that I had somehow tried to go behind Meri’s back,” Janelle told former sister wife and close friend Christine Brown during the premiere.
Janelle pointed to the timing, saying, “Months after the deal is closed he starts talking about how I was doing a backdoor deal with him. … It was not true.” (Coyote Pass sold for $1.5 million in April 2025.)
During Sunday’s episode Meri, 55, confessed that she didn’t “know all the details” but was under the impression that Janelle and Kody had allegedly spoken about wanting to sell the land in Arizona without her consent and just give her “however much they felt like I was owed.”
Although she was unsure who was telling the truth, Meri told her friends that Kody and his wife, Robyn, 47, were “not willing” to have a discussion, which was a red flag. (TLC confirmed in September that Robyn and Kody didn’t return for the new season after 16 years. The exit comes after Kody’s divorces from his first three wives in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively.)
Janelle, Meri and Christine Brown. Courtesy of TLC
“She and I are not best friends. We don’t have full trust. There might be things that she holds back,” Meri admitted to the cameras when discussing her relationship with Janelle.
Janelle, meanwhile, claimed she’s “always tried to be very fair and very transparent in my business dealings,” pointing to Kody as the problem.
“This accusation not only felt very personal, like, a final F-you as he was leaving,” Janelle confessed. “But everyone is believing him and Meri’s even like, ‘I don’t know.’ I’m like, ‘What the hell?’”
When Janelle and Meri finally met in person to discuss the controversy, they were clearly on different pages.
Kody Brown gets an icy reception from exes Meri Brown and Janelle Brown on Sister Wives while trying to make small talk on a joint Zoom call. “Hey, guys, how’s it going?” Kody, 56, asks Meri, 54, and Janelle, 56, in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek at the Sunday, November 2, episode of the TLC […]
“Kody’s stirring the pot, even after the fact. I’m like, ‘Leave it alone,’” Janelle told Meri. “But he just can’t help himself.”
Meri explained that Kody accused Janelle of bringing up the idea to sell Coyote Pass without her knowledge and she denied the allegation.
“He had all these things about, ‘Maybe I’ll just sell and I’ll hold some money in reserve for Meri in reserve so when she basically does what I want her to do, I’ll give her the money,’” Janelle claimed. “There was so much threatening. … I’m still kinda stunned, Meri.”
Janelle insisted Kody was “suggesting this from the beginning” and he did it so he could have the “power.”
Janelle Brown and Meri Brown. Courtesy of TLC
Meri was hesitant to believe Janelle, asking why she didn’t tell her about it then.
“It was more like he was saying one-off to me,” Janelle alleged. “It was making little veil threats. It got really way more complicated than it needed to be and I don’t know why.”
Meri confessed, “I don’t understand any of it.”
Janelle doubled down, saying, “I was not trying to cut you out of the deal,” insisting she never tried to ice out Meri in any way.
“It’s done. Aren’t you glad it’s done?” Janelle asked.
Meri was still unclear about what transpired, admitting she had “so many questions,” but let it go. “I appreciate you,” she told Janelle.
“I’m not taking a side with Janelle or Kody and Robyn, because to be honest with you, every single one of us in humanity will tell our stories to make us look better,” Meri told the cameras after the conversation.
Janelle admitted in her confessional, “I just want this thing to be over. I thought it was. Apparently not, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, Kody Brown.”
She added, “I have said what I needed to say. I am sincere. I was not trying to double deal.”
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
