Madison Brush, the daughter of Sister Wives star Janelle Brown, has opened up about her estrangement from his father Kody Brown.
As a refresher, Janelle and her daughter have been the subject of much chatter on the current 19th season of the TLC reality show, which follows Janelle as one of four women married to Kody. While that all sounds like a lot of work (I can’t even tie down one husband), we’ve only really heard about Janelle’s perspective on the marriage, at least until a recent episode of Madison’s podcast, The Authentic Society.
The 29-year-old mother of three spoke out against Kody, while explaining the reason behind their distant relationship. Madison — who appears briefly on Sister Wives but is mentioned frequently — said she has “no contact with some of my family, and it’s because of stuff that has happened.”
Madison went on to reveal that her father “doesn’t have any respect for boundaries,” and that their estranged relationship arose when she refused to “play by his rules, [because] I just don’t care to do that.” Madison — who described herself as a “straight shooter” who is “going to tell you what I think” — said Kody would react negatively and “get very angry” whenever she raised an issue in their relationship, adding that he “didn’t like a mirror being held up.”
Kody’s defensiveness whenever they encountered issues was the reason for Madison distancing herself from her father, since “there was a lot of anger and he’d be like, ‘That’s not true!’ and I’m like, ‘It is true. I know this firsthand.’” As a result of this complex dynamic, Madison reminded listeners that it’s not always so easy to simply forgive someone and move on. “I always get messages from people who are like, ‘You should just forgive your dad and respect him,’” Madison said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t think you know what you’re talking about because your experience with your dad could be very different than my experience with my dad.’”
This, according to Madison, is evidence that “some people just don’t deserve to be in your life.” It appears Janelle may have encountered similar issues in her marriage to Kody, since the pair announced their separation in December of 2022. “Kody and I have separated and I’m happy, really happy,” Janelle said in a previous Sister Wives: One on One special. “Things just really became sort of indifferent, like I just didn’t care anymore.” Janelle also said that she’s “not waiting” to reconcile with Kody, and that she had already “mourned that part of our life.”
Madison is one of 18 children Kody shares among his four marriages, three of which have already ended in divorce. The Mormon polygamist married his first wife Meri in 1990, before marrying Janelle, Christine, and Robyn in 1993, 1994, and 2010, respectively. Madison’s brother, Garrison Brown, tragically passed away in March of this year.
The current 19th season of Sister Wives marked a new era for the series, since Janelle, Christine and Robyn still appear on the show despite being divorced from Kody. That sounds about a messy as anything served up on The Real Housewives, with an added layer of drama since Sister Wives revolves around a love pentagon (a far messier shape than your standard triangle).