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'Sister Wives' star Meri Brown was once catfished by a woman pretending to be a man online

'Sister Wives' star Meri Brown's involvement in a high-profile catfish scandal was one of the most significant conflicts in the history of the show.

Sister Wives star Meri Brown's involvement in a high-profile catfish scandal was one of the most significant conflicts in the history of the show. The incident caused serious strain in her marriage to her now ex-husband, Kody Brown. However, their relationship had soured way earlier in Season 9 of the series.

As the couple struggled to find the 'spark' again, the sister wife found herself emotionally drawn to someone she believed to be a man, only to later discover it was a woman named Jackie Overton. When Kody learned of the situation, he reacted poorly and struggled to forgive her. The emotional affair also left Meri’s family feeling betrayed, and the scandal shocked many when details emerged, as reported by Screenrant. As per The Things, Overton, who pretended to be a guy in his early 40s, is a well-known internet scammer. After exchanging messages on social media, they ultimately moved on to phone calls.

Over time, Meri shared intimate photos, including a suggestive shot with a banana, with Overton. Despite Overton’s claims that their connection was genuine, she didn’t hesitate to humiliate the reality star. After Meri cut ties with her, Overton responded by releasing their private communications—messages, audio recordings, and photos— to the public. Additionally, the woman also authored a book titled Almost Meri’d, detailing the ordeal.

Reflecting on the same, a fan once noted, "During Meri's catfishing escapade, Kody and the wives' initial response appeared quite sympathetic." The person added, "Especially Kody — I remember him stating how bad he felt. How he wished that he could have been there for her and did not like seeing her so heartbroken over the entire ordeal. What changed for him? From understanding and concerned to entirely dismissive of her." Another viewer opined, "He [Kody] probably went online and read some of the stuff that actually went on between her and the woman posing as a guy. There are some very unflattering pictures and even voice mails, as well as messages sent from Meri that would have opened his eyes to what really went on."

Meanwhile, last year, Kody publicly acknowledged the bitterness he felt towards Meri after the catfishing scandal; exacerbated further by her failure to completely own up to what happened. However, Meri maintains that there has been a serious misunderstanding. As reported by People Magazine, she claims that everyone thought she was having an affair or abandoning the family, but she insists that wasn't the case. She claimed, "I'm going to clarify something here, and this is what a lot of people really misunderstand, and that is the fact that a lot of people look[ed] at the catfishing as a defining moment of the demise of our marriage or even the family. And it's really not, because there were a lot of things that were happening for years prior.”