Sister Wives’ Kody and Janelle Brown Have ‘Civil War’ Over Kids

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‘Sister Wives’ Recap: Kody Brown Calls Divide With Janelle and Their Sons a ‘Civil War’ After She Sides With the Kids

Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Kody Brown and Janelle Brown hit a wall in their relationship on the latest episode of Sister Wives after they agreed to disagree about their children.

“It’s been a bit of a civil war. The whole family in a way,” Kody, 53, said during the Sunday, December 11, episode of the TLC series following his split from Christine Brown in 2021. “I’m looking at Janelle wondering whose side she’s on.”

Janelle, 53, meanwhile, made it clear to both Kody and her remaining fellow sister wives, Meri Brown and Robyn Brown, that her kids have felt unwelcomed recently. Janelle and Kody, who spiritually wed in 1993, share six kids: Logan, 28, Madison, 27, Hunter, 25, Garrison, 24, Gabriel, 21, and Savannah, 17.

“To be honest with you I really don’t know if I want to do the work. It feels like I’m being forced to choose between my children and this group,” the Utah native told the group. “I don’t feel like my children are welcome.”

Janelle previously butted heads with her spouse over their sons Garrison and Gabriel following the boy’s fallout with their dad during COVID-19 quarantine. Kody argued that his sons were disrespectful of his rules at the time and later claimed they were mean to Robyn, 43, which didn’t sit well with him.

“Kody [has] basically told me they can’t come for Christmas unless they do a big apology,” Janelle said during Sunday’s episode. “And they’re like, well, ‘Hell no, we’re not going to do that.’”

The Becoming Sister Wives coauthor proceeded to tell the family that “Garrison and Gabriel aren’t the only children who have problems.” She revealed that “there’s a general disgruntlement” with all of her kids.

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Kody grew frustrated by the situation and as a result, started to raise his voice. Janelle, for her part, felt like she was being attacked and threatened to leave the conversation.

“At the end of the day, I think I’d rather be with my kids. [And] you’re getting upset with me,” she told her partner. Janelle then confessed to the group, “There’s a strong pull to just run away and do the easy thing.”

The mother of six doubled down on her comments during a confessional, revealing, “I don’t even recognize this family. Something has really changed for me.”

Kody, on the other hand, told the cameras he’s “exhausted” from all of the drama. “If you’re not with me, you’re against me,” he added. “F off.”

While Kody later apologized to all of his wives for getting “caught in my emotion here,” Janelle concluded during the episode that she didn’t know what would happen next for the family.

“I just think we’ve never had divides this deep. And now Christine has left and that’s obviously [a] very, very big departure from what our family has looked like for many years,” she confessed. “This is like the ultimate test of our family. Can we hold it together with all of this?”

Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.

Scroll down to see all the bombshell revelations from Sister Wives season 17, episode 14:

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Robyn Is Worried About the Family’s Future

“I think we need to talk more in this family,” Robyn told her husband and fellow sister wives, noting that after Christine’s departure they haven’t really spoken. “This next part of my I want to be better. With everybody. Relationships. I think we have been sweeping so much under the rug. Christine leaving is like a wakeup call.”

While Robyn wanted to be more open, she told the group that she wasn’t interested in living in one house after their ups and downs one year prior. “I’ve been shocked at the way the last year and a half has gone. This last year and a half has really shattered what I thought our family was,” she explained.

Kody added that their arguments over his COVID-19 protocols only added to their struggles. Robyn agreed, saying, “We need to work on it. Or we’re going to sort of disappear as a family.” She then confessed: “Christine leaving has put me in a very dark spot.”

Janelle, for her part, told the cameras that she didn’t want a “Christine bashing fest,” pointing out, “I don’t really need to process it.”

Credit: Courtesy of Janelle Brown/Instagram

Janelle’s Boys Feel Unwelcome in the Group

During the family’s sit-down, Janelle revealed that her sons Garrison and Gabriel still felt uncomfortable with everyone after Kody said they couldn’t celebrate the holidays with the group unless they apologized. (Garrison and Gabe allegedly sent mean texts to Robyn blaming her for the family’s recent issues.)

“I never said my kids aren’t welcome. I said all we’ve gotta do is have a conversation,” Kody claimed during a second family meeting, to which Janelle replied, “Your boys are as stubborn as you are.” He later told the cameras: “I think sometimes that Janelle has pit me against the boys. I’m having the hardest time not just feeling like she’s betraying me.”

The patriarch argued with Janelle, claiming that she was acting as if she is “not even copiable” when it comes to the tension between him and their boys. “[You are] copiable for not having any respect for me with the COVID rules. You actually belittled the stuff that I was doing,” he told his second wife. Kody revealed he was “mad as hell” that Janelle didn’t have his back during that time period.

“I cannot believe I have done all this to save you. To save truly to save my children. I did not know that it wouldn’t harm them,” he said of his quarantine rules. “I got criticism from you. From my boys. The worst criticism. Zero respect. My heart is broken. Christine left because of this.”

Janelle countered: “You and I see it very differently. You’re acting like this is my fault. I was doing what I could. I was walking a line between my adult children and you and everybody else. I don’t really want to be here anymore.”

After the chat, Kody told the cameras that he has his “own daddy issues” which he now thinks he “passed” on to his sons. “Maybe I haven’t told them enough I loved them. I sacrificed my life for them. I’m sure everybody else is having heartbreak,” he confessed. “I’m sure Garrison and Gabriel are having heartbreak. They probably wish I was as loyal to them as I wish they were to me. And we’ve kinda been at war with each other.”

Credit: Courtesy of Meri Brown/Instagram

Meri Is Holding on to Kody Romance

Meri, 51, got candid about her dynamic with Kody after he spoke about his fallout with Christine pre-split. “It’s interesting hearing him talking about this and the parallels that is happening with him and Christine and me and him,” she said during a confessional. “It’s kind of disturbing because some of the things he’s frustrated about with Christine, he did with me. Oh, he wants to work on it with Christine, but not me.”

Robyn also picked up on Kody’s frustration with his wives, and then asked whether “people are just tried of trying” and “don’t want to work it out” anymore. Meri, for her part, told the family, “I am still here because I am still trying. It’s what I want.”

Robyn appeared to be asking the question to gauge where Janelle stood with Kody after their relationship drama over their kids.

Kody, meanwhile, pointed out, the irony of Meri having his back. “Meri’s trying to support me and I don’t want a relationship with her anymore,” he told the cameras.

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Janelle Moves Into New Apartment Without Thinking of Kody

After getting through his COVID battle, Kody finally goes to see Janelle and Savannah’s new apartment. (The mother-daughter duo previously lived in an RV on their Coyote Pass Property.)

“It doesn’t really make that much of a difference because he doesn’t come over very often,” Savannah said of her dad coming to check in. “It’s just a visit instead of being there, living there.”

The teenager noted that her dad “didn’t like the trailer” and never stayed with them during the day when they lived on the Arizona land. “Hopefully now … he’ll start coming over a lot more often,” Savannah said.

Kody, meanwhile, claimed that he is “an afterthought” in Janelle’s life, as made evident by her new pad. “She’s filled this house up and she has no more room in it,” he told the cameras. “She doesn’t have me in it.”

Credit: Justin Stephens/Discovery

Christine Is Staying Away

“I feel like I’m back home,” she said after being in Utah for more than two months. “I told everybody in Flagstaff that I would be coming back to hangout and visit and everything and I didn’t know how hard that would be. I have to go back to a place where there’s so much heartache.”

Credit: Courtesy of Janelle Brown/Instagram

Happy Holidays?

Janelle threw Kody for a loop when she revealed that all of her children except for Maddie would be coming to town for Christmas. She informed her spouse that the kids were staying in an Airbnb in the area so they could avoid drama with Kody and the greater family.

“I’m struggling here with the Christmas decision,” Kody said in a confessional after learning that Christine’s kids were also planning to come to town after the holidays and hadn’t told him.

Janelle, however, maintained that Kody was the one who put her in a bad position regarding where to spend Christmas.

“He told me that the boys would have to apologize to Robyn. But there’s been no movement from Kody’s side,” she told the cameras. “I’m not gonna leave my kids here in Flagstaff having a separate Christmas while I’m at Robyn’s with her and her kids and Kody and Meri. Sorry, not interested. I’d rather be with my boys.”

Meri understood Janelle’s side, saying in her own confessional, “If I was in the same situation as Janelle is in and all of my kids were going to be in town. I for sure would want to go be with them.”

Kody, on the other hand, still had problems with the entire situation. “Am I the only one who sees this as some kind of betrayal?” he asked his wives. “I’d like to see the kids, but you’re talking about everybody going to some neutral zone.”

Janelle quipped: “What was I supposed to do? What were they supposed to do? You said they could not come over until they apologized.”