After Years of In$ults, ‘Sister Wives’ Kody Brown Tries a Rebrand With a $610K Apology

The dynamics of Sister Wives’ Brown family have shifted — but is it for better or for worse? After years of snubbing his elder wives, the family patriarch Kody Brown tried to rebrand himself by paying out $610K to Janelle and Meri. But the question still remains whether his $610K apology is a sincere attempt at making peace with ex-wives.

Brown, 56, initially bought the 14-acre Coyote Pass Property in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2018 after deciding to relocate his family from Las Vegas. The TLC personality’s initial dream was to stay with his entire family — then including his four wives Meri, Christine, Janelle, and Robyn, along with all his children — in separate homes within the property.

However, before his dream could materialize, the polygamist family slowly disintegrated, leading Brown to abandon his dream and finalize the sale of the property for $1.5 million. As he relinquished his 97% stake on the Coyote Pass Property, he paid $305,000 each to Janelle and Meri, which further raised questions. Let’s find out how his $610K payout landed in controversy despite initially being packaged as an apology.

How Kody Brown’s $610K apology to Janelle and Meri fell flat

While Kody’s initial dream consisted of separate houses for all his wives (and one for himself), the plan went downhill when Christine broke free of the marriage in 2021. Leading her path, Brown’s two other wives, Janelle and Meri, too separated from him, citing their growing distances in 2022 and 2023 respectively. That left Brown in a monogamous marriage solely with Robyn, whom he spiritually married in 2010 (and legally in 2014).

Nevertheless, when Christine bailed out of her marriage, she sold her portion of the land parcel for a meager $10 to Brown, per Collider. Meri and Janelle, however, remained — as they should have — for the property. Janelle, after all, used her 401(k) to finance part of the property, and Meri has always been a steady contributor in the family’s finances.

Thus, throughout the family’s possession of the land, Brown claimed that he won the majority of the shares of the land. Janelle, and Meri, on the other hand, have always fought for 25% share each. Brown’s reluctance in distributing the land parcel, however, doesn’t come out of character for the Brown family patriarch.

More often than not, during the Sister Wives’ tenure, Brown came off as a flawed character who was far from a Prince Charming. His elder wives saw him fall head over heels in love with Robyn which became the point of contention in their plural marriage. However, instead of addressing their concerns, Brown derisively called the women entitled “princesses” (via ScreenRant).

It is, however, just a fraction of the emotional strain the women had to undergo during their association with Brown. It is not that they have not been emotionally manipulated before.

While they stayed for years in hopes of turning things for the better, their hopes weren’t reciprocated. Instead, insults and snubs only grew with each passing year. Even after separating from Brown, the ex-wives were accused of alienating their children from Brown.

Amid all the backlash, Brown shocked many by redividing the land parcel into four parts, giving somewhat into Janelle and Meri’s demands. Yet the division remained unequal.

Brown sold the land in four parcels – two 2.42-acre plots for $305,000 each, a 4.48-acre plot for $400,000, and a 5.16-acre plot for $490,000.

After making the sale for $1.5 million, he gave around $610K to Janelle and Meri, while keeping the rest for himself and Robyn. While his act of shelling out $610K to his previous wives may appear as an act of generosity, it didn’t fail to raise speculation, as it also received backlash as a PR move.

Given Brown’s past, it may or may not have been a face-saving act. Yet, PR move or not, Brown’s recent act of property division did leave his two exes richer by $305K each. As for Brown’s reputation? Only time will tell whether his rebranding worked.

What’s next for the Sister Wives family?

With a major point of contention for the land now over, peace seems to have been restored with the broken family. While Christine apparently did not get a share in the proceedings, she got peace of mind by bailing out earlier, and that calls for something.

Nevertheless, Brown’s relationships with his other family members are still at a standstill. Though he managed to work out a serviceable deal with Janelle, the trust has been broken with the mother of his six children.

Brown, who is currently in a monogamous marriage with Robyn, is still trying to adjust to his post-plural marriage. As each of the members of the family embarks on their individual journeys, Sister Wives is bracing for a more poignant tale that would still keep the audience hooked to their seats.

Sister Wives is currently streaming on Max.