Sister Wives' Meri Brown recounts Kody Brown's meanest insult in latest episode: "He told me to..."
Former couple and 'Sister Wives' stars Kody Brown and Meri Brown formally announced their divorce in early 2023, after over a decade of emotional detachment and lack of intimacy. However, the tension between the couple remained even after they split up. During a recent episode of the reality TV show, Meri revealed a devastating allegation that Kody made against her. While taking apart a quilt that once represented their marriage, Meri claimed Kody accused her of being "horrible" to him for 20 years
Meri said, "One time he told me to 'just deal with it', this was right after he moved to Vegas. He said, ‘You have been really horrible to me for 20 years. So you’re going to have to wait at least that long for me to fix my relationship with you,’" as reported by Fandom Wire. She further recalled his words, "‘Listen you’ve been hard to live with. You’ve been mean. And so now I am going to be this way to you and you’re just going to have to deal with it for 20 years.’" Meri recounted this painful moment while talking to her friend, Jenn Sullivan, whose reaction was one of clear disbelief at Kody’s harsh words. However, despite such accusations, Meri managed to maintain her calm, responding with humor.
She referred to her marriage and divorce to Kody and quipped, “Listen, the joke’s on him. I didn’t last long." Despite their increasing emotional detachment, the former couple stayed together in what they called a "spiritual marriage" from 2014 to 2023. The relationship then experienced additional turmoil following Meri's 2015 catfishing incident. 'Sister Wives' Season 17 saw Kody publicly declare his separation from Meri, saying he no longer saw Meri as his wife. As per Entertainment Tonight, Kody's previous marriages to Christine Brown and Janelle Brown ended, which pushed Meri's own decision to divorce him in 2023.
As Kody and Meri closed their final chapter, the latter left with more than just memories as she decided to keep the Brown family name. During an interview, she said, "We’ve talked about it a lot. It’s like, okay, I am connected to Kody Brown by having his last name, but at the same time, that’s all anybody knows me as. That’s all I know myself as for the past 34 years. I definitely wouldn’t ever change it back to my maiden name. That would be weird for me. I only had that for 19 years. This one I’ve had for 34, so it would be weird on that level." Maintaining her trademark humor, Meri quipped that she hoped her next partner’s last name wouldn’t be Brown too, jokingly wishing it would be something more colorful instead.
Meanwhile, it has also been reported that Kody and Meri's relationship began to unravel gradually after his marriage to Robyn. Kody allegedly prioritized his other wives, leaving Meri to be the least favored. Over time, he made it very obvious that he no longer felt any physical attraction to Meri. By 2020, Meri openly stated that it had been a decade since they were intimate. As the years passed, she began to feel increasingly isolated from her own family. As reported by Screenrant, Kody ultimately decided to view Meri just as a friend, despite her continued presence in the family.