‘Sister Wives’ Fans Call Out Kody & Robyn Brown for Turning Trip to Bury Late Son Garrison’s Ashes into a ‘Family Vacation’: “Disrespectful!”
Sunday’s episode of Sister Wives saw Kody and Robyn Brown and their kids travel to Wyoming to bury the ashes of Kody’s late son Garrison Brown. However, the scenes featuring Kody & Co. in Wyoming did not go over well with many of the show’s viewers, some of whom felt Kody and Robyn handled the situation in a “disrespectful” way, turning the trip to bury Garrison into a family vacation that focused mostly on Kody.
During the trip– which took place several months after Garrison’s death from suicide in March 2024— Kody treated his family to sightseeing around Cody, Wyoming— a place Kody and his (now ex) wives Meri, Janelle and Christine and their kids had lived prior to Kody meeting Robyn. He also took his family to eat ice cream, see a Wild West show and ride in a stagecoach, all while bragging about signs he had a hand in selling that still remain in the town.
Viewers were not happy that the solemn journey of bringing Garrison’s ashes home to Wyoming somehow turned into a Kody-centric vacation for the ‘Sister Wives’ patriarch, Robyn and their kids. (As fans know, Kody and Garrison had been estranged for several years at the time of Garrison’s death, partly due to Kody’s relationship with Robyn.)
“Is his son’s ashes in the trunk while they have their ice cream and good Wild West time? Anyone else find this a bit disrespectful?” one person wrote on X.
“Didn’t talk to his son for the last 5 years of his life and is now making this trip about himself. What a self-centered loser!” someone else wrote on the platform.
“Kody turning Garrison’s burial into a weekend getaway for his family just pisses me off,” another person tweeted. “I know you can’t be doom and gloom the entire time… but this just feels weird.”
During the episode, Kody and Robyn explained that the trip would include the day around town, followed by a day at Kody’s family’s ranch, then a graveside service for Garrison. (In March 2024, a memorial service was put on by the Nevada National Guard for Garrison that was attended by nearly all the Brown Family.)
“I wanted to, do in a sense a pilgrimage,” Kody said. “I want to take his remains, I want to take him home. I want to put him in the ground next to his grandma and his grandpa, and kind of finish the circle.”
“We all drove up to Wyoming and Garrison is our passenger,” Robyn stated, adding that they still have family in the town and go there every year to visit them. “This year is very different. Wyoming is where Kody’s roots are. They’re where Garrison’s roots are.”
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Viewers expressed on social media that they felt it was wrong to include so many scenes of Kody having fun with his family in an episode that was supposed to be about Garrison.
“Am I tripping out or is Kody making his son’s ‘pilgrimage’ about signs (and about himself)?” someone wrote on X.
“It was disgraceful to see them make this trip about themselves,” another person commented. “Not once did you hear Kody say Garrison would have liked this or Garrison’s favorite ice cream was. They only talked about Kody and his memories of his own life during this pilgrimage.”
“TLC, what the hell is up with this Kody and Robyn vacation? This is the most disrespectful s**t ever,” someone else tweeted.
As The Ashley previously reported, Kody and Garrison (as well as most of his other kids) became estranged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and sadly, the father and son had not made amends before Garrison’s death.
During the episode, Kody explained that doing “happy things” is a way to get through his grief over the loss of Garrison.
“We’re moving through our grief because you need that time of mourning,” Kody told viewers before getting choked up. “And we’re doing mourning things to respect and love the dead. To mourn, and to own that pain. And we’re doing happy things so that we are moving on from mourning. So, we have faith in the hereafter and in our own futures.”
Kody also discussed how his feelings of grief tend to sneak up on him.
“Grief hits you in waves,” he told viewers. “When it hits me, I can’t run from it. If I cry it out or if I sob it out, I can cut it short, but when that wave comes, I cannot prevent it from affecting me.”
New ‘Sister Wives’ episodes air Sundays on TLC.