Mykelti Brown is speaking out about the abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her father Kody‘s first wife, Meri Brown.
The Sister Wives star– who is the daughter of Kody and his third wife Christine— posted a video on her Patreon account on Tuesday, addressing statements that several of her siblings recently made about Meri allegedly being abusive, and Meri being particularly cruel to Mykelti.
“I honestly think I got the brunt of it,” Mykelti stated of Meri’s alleged abuse. “My siblings have told me multiple times that they think that I did receive the worst that she gave. However, I think that we were all affected by her.”
As The Ashley previously reported, Mykelti’s brother Paedon made comments during a YouTube interview earlier this month with blogger John Yates, stating that Kody’s fourth wife Robyn alerted the other adults in the family to Meri’s alleged abuse. He claimed that Robyn “probably saved several of our lives… Definitely saved Mykelti’s life.”
He also clarified that Meri’s alleged abuse of Kody’s kids was not just verbal.
Other Brown family kids have also spoken out about Meri’s alleged abuse. Several years ago, Madison Brown (whose mother is Kody’s second wife Janelle) tweeted about growing up with an “abusive human” who was a “monster.”
Paedon later confirmed that Madison’s tweets were about Meri. More recently, Gwendlyn Brown confirmed Paedon’s claims about Meri putting her hands on Mykelti.
“Meri had moments where she was rude and scary but I don’t remember her getting physical with anyone except for Mykelti and that was only once,” Gwendlyn (who remains close to Meri) wrote on her own Patreon recently.
In her video posted on Tuesday, Mykelti confirmed that Meri was allegedly abusive to some of the kids in the Brown family. However, she denied that Meri ever got physically violent with her, as Gwen and Paedon have claimed.
“I’m speaking on my own personal experiences and opinion of Meri Brown. I don’t want to discount my siblings’ experience with her, though,” she said. “I don’t remember Meri ever being physically abusive to me, but she was very emotionally and verbally abusive to all of us when we were younger, until I think we got old enough and she stopped because, I don’t know, we were able to fight back or something I guess.
“We were just too old for her to continue,” she added.
Mykelti stated that she has no relationship with Meri now, but does have to see her at events held by Lularoe, the clothing company they both work for.
“From time to time in a professional sense we do cross each other. But we don’t really interact but we’re cordial,” Mykelti said, later adding, “I don’t think she’s a terrible person, but I don’t think she’s necessarily a nice person.
“She’s not, nor will she ever be, part of my life, or my husband’s or my kids’ lives because of the trauma I’ve experienced as a child growing up,” Mykelti said.
She went on to give her thoughts on the recent announcement made by Meri and Kody saying they are “permanently terminating” their relationship (even though the haven’t behaved as a married couple for years).
“I hope she can find happiness and love in the future… I wish her the best, honestly. I think it is really good that her and my dad came forward and decided to completely end their relationship, because it just means that both parties can move forward in a more-positive life.
“I hope that in the future she can find love, she can find happiness and that she can find something else that is just for her, and that it helps her to become a nicer person,” Mykelti added.
Mykelti’s husband Tony Padron also gave his thoughts on the situation.
“I never interacted with Meri very much… so I can only form my opinion from very little and from what Mykelti tells me,” Tony said in the Patreon video. “I know that she has not been so nice and has hurt Mykelti in the past, and I tend to not like people who hurt my wife. That’s about it. She’s not a huge part of our lives…”
Meri has yet to publicly address the statements made by Mykelti and the other Brown kids about her allegedly being abusive.
The other adults in the family— Kody, Christine, Janelle and Robyn— have also remained silent about the kids’ statements.
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
24 Responses
Let’s face the facts.
The ONLY reason Meri left is because there was no one left to abuse. The only minor children left at home were Savannah and Truely and they left with their mothers. And she’s not allowed around Robyn’s kids. So who’s left…literally no one. Kody wants nothing to do with her and you can bet that if Kody says he doesn’t want something then Robyn doesn’t either.
And Janelle left because she no longer had her faithful sidekick Christine and she didn’t want the abuse Meri gave to the kids to be given to her.
The only one I truly felt for was Christine, at least her motives for wanting to leave were genuine.
I’m glad for both Christine and Janelle but I think Janelle’s motives were pretty selfish.
People forgot how horrible Meri was until she cheated and Cody started to treat her like shit, but I never did. She was horrible and she was entitled and so was her daughter at the time. The daughter wanted to be a polygamist, and she was also super entitled until she came out as gay and then I saw a completely different side to her which I liked. Meri wanted the larger house, even though her kid not lived at home .. I believe she had a four or five bedrooms.. she wanted the wet bar-she wanted the wet bar, she wanted the others wives to add money to her B&B , she wanted the best plot in Arizona etc..When they were talking about, she would have to sign something to make sure the kids could play in the lake…. I knew something was terribly wrong. She was always abusive and super manipulative. It didn’t change until Cody married Robyn and the shoe was on the other foot, and the kids were older And then she started to be the victim. But I always remember what she was like from the beginning.
Meri is ATROCIOUS- inside AND outside. She just reminds me of someone who is just… I dunno. Gross? Dirty? I just don’t like her. I never have. So hearing all this crap come out, does not surprise me whatsoever. She also comes across painfully desperate with the way she’s been with Kody.
I agree but I wonder if she suffered abuse growing up and that’s why shes abusive now, that happens sometimes (not always) you know…people that get abused become abusive.
Either way her behavior is inexcusable.
Those poor kids. They didn’t sign up for this dysfunctional,to put it mildly,so called family. I’m sorry,but if ANYONE abused my kids,verbally or physically,they,or in Meris case “it”,would have to suffer the same treatment,only turned up a few thousand notches,from me. No question,and I wouldn’t care about their so called “status”. They’d never be able to abuse another child again,trust me.
I’m shocked that anyone is surprised at this to be honest. Meri has such a weird darkness to her, and some of the early episodes she’s just mean to the kids. She strikes me as a very bitter person; I’m not surprised she took her frustrations out on the kids.
But also, this just highlights the ridiculousness of forced and rushed religious marriages. None of these adults were truly happy or felt loved in this situation, and its always always always the children that get the brunt.
You’re absolutely right.. that her is a good word ..,you can tell she was bitter whether she was upset because she only had one child but she always wanted more and so did her daughter. She wanted to go to the most expensive college, she wanted to be the polygamist, etc. until she turned her life around and came out as gay and then she was relatable .. but Meri wanted a bigger house, the wet bar, She wanted them to put the family cheated she wanted them to put the family funds into her B&B, even if she cheated on Cody on Kody, the bigger and nicer piece of land and people and the sisters wives rolled over and gave it to her cause they were afraid of her or maybe it wasn’t worth the hassle. But she always wanted her own way
Their mothers and father SHOULD have protected them. There is no excuse. I mean this kind of fundy society makes the dad the king. Kody could have stopped Meri or gave her an ultimatum. But he did not give a rat’s ass.
Abuse happens in mainstream society (not just fundie society).
And I get so sick of people blaming the victim(s).
Abuse doesn’t just effect the person it happens to, it also effects those the watch the abuse (ie Janelle and Christine in this case). It doesn’t just effect children either, it effects adults too!!
The main reason the majority of the abused stay in that situation is because they love the abuser.
Literally almost every case of abuse I’ve seen when the person is asked “Why didn’t you leave?” They will answer “Because I love him (or in this case her).”
They figure that if they love them and don’t leave then the person will miraculously get better (and that’s almost NEVER the case).
Another reason people stay is because they want to somehow think it’s their fault…when its not, it’s the abuser(s).
Some are thankfully able to make it out in time but others unfortunately don’t make it out at all.
Im glad Janelle and Christine left the situation…better late than never.
Affects
Thank you, I couldn’t figure out which was right…i didn’t know if it was affects or effects.
I genuinely rooted for Christine and Janelle. Now, I cannot look at either of them for standing idly by and allowing children to be abused in any manner. They are just as bad as Meri in my opinion. This is NOT a case of a terrified mother staying put because she is being abused and threatened by the abuser. These women could have done something and chose not to.
As for Kody, just when you think he cannot sink any lower, he looks at the world, exclaiming, “Hold my white claw!”
You don’t know that, maybe Meri had them manipulated and scared too?
No one is going to have me so manipulated and scared that I stand idly by while they abuse my children. There is no excuse!
That’s you…everybody is different. Some people are emotionally and mentally stronger than others and I’m glad you consider yourself one of the stronger one’s.
But like Streets Full Of Uppercut said “Alot of times, kids don’t tell there parents about being abused.”
And like I said, “they also lie when questioned…”
But fact of the matter is, fear can (and does) work both ways, on kids and adults alike.
I don’t know that she did it in front of them and maybe that’s why they were so resentful because they could not come out and openly accuse on TV .. But there was always underlining resentment nip between her and Christine and Janelle. Cody seemed a little afraid of her as well. I never understood what that was All about, but they all seem to give in and cater to her wishes. My guess was it was to keep the show going. And that’s the exact reason why Meri didn’t leave because she wanted that check …and she was probably threaten them That she would expose the dark stuff. But that blew up on her because the kids grow up and spilled it before she could
It’s hard to say how much they knew and because Meri was the first wife at the time I am sure there was a certain amount of reverence to her. Also, and I say this because I have experienced abuse within the family sometimes people aren’t believed, even when they speak up as adults.
I recall my cousins accusing thier father of horrendous things and my parents calling them liars. It made me so mad, I believed them because I saw a side of their dad that I KNEW was dark and my parents had never seen or refused to see.
My thoughts are with the kids as they process and probably speaking about these situations for the first time with liberty now that thier mom has left and Meri isn’t a factor anymore.
I so agree! My grandmother was very abusive in private, but put on a loving face when others were around. As a four-year old, I would repeat things she had said to me to my father… words that no four-year old would know in the early 1960’s and he wouldn’t believe me! She babysat for me and gave me lunch while in elementary school. He always said, “Why would she do that if she didn’t love you?” I didn’t have the answer then and I don’t now, but I know that she could be pure evil. Her favorite was telling me that my mom was a whore and I was just like her. I was age 4-9. My parents were happily married for 65 years until their deaths in their 90’s. My dad was one of 6 kids, so it wasn’t like he was her only child, either. Just crazy.
To be fair, we don’t know what Janelle or Christine knew at the time. It sounds like it stopped once Robyn recognized what was happening – could be that a fresh set of eyes (and especially from someone who had been in an abusive situation) was what alerted the other adults. A lot of times, kids don’t tell their parents about being abused.
True, they also lie when questioned, nobody wants to admit to being abused by someone they love for fear of not being believed. Not just kids…adults too.
I am surprised that the mothers allowed this to go on. They had to know, I’m sure it wasn’t a secret with so many kids. I wonder what she did to mess up her own kid so bad.
What will the other adults say? “We let her abuse the kids”? Christine admitted that Meri was “too hard” on her kids. Did she do something to stop that before Robyn came to the family? What about Janelle? Is there some superiority in polygamy for the first wife or was just this disfuncional family?
Abuse, no matter what form is wrong. The things we say & do around our kids have a huge impact in their lives as they get older. Meri doesn’t strike me as the type who will take accountability for her actions, I think, if anything she will try to play the victim, in the sense that she will blame it on the kids or her relationship with certain family members etc. She has a victim complex.
As much as I don’t like Robyn, as much as I think she plays to the camera & Kody, good on her for recognising & stopping the abuse.
Same here, I can’t stand Robyn.
Taking her side on ANYTHING leaves a bad taste in your mouth doesn’t it? ????