On Sunday’s episode of Sister Wives, Janelle Brown accused ex-husband Kody Brown of frivolously spending the family’s funds in recent years, insisting she didn’t know where– or on whom– this money was spent. 

During the episode, Janelle– who separated from Kody in late 2022– explained to viewers that for many years, Kody and his wives would “weigh in” on what bills needed to be paid and how the family was going to pay them; however, Janelle claimed things had changed within “the last several years.” 

“ … Kody would just take out funds and I don’t know what for, and the money was just being spent– and lots of it,” Janelle told viewers, before going on to admit that things got “really hard” towards the end of her marriage. 

In response to Janelle’s comments, Kody argued that he had financial responsibilities to many different people within the family, not just Janelle. 

“I was a father to 18 and a husband to more than just Janelle, so we had a lot of places that money needed to go that weren’t always Janelle’s business,” Kody said.

While Kody didn’t deny that he was spending “lots,” he argued that Janelle was the one “doing the bookkeeping” for the family in the past, claiming that “some of the bills to be paid by all of us, were supposed to be paid by [Janelle].” 

Janelle went on to state that, while Kody “loves this mantra” that she was the one “with all the financial control,” her role as “bookkeeper” actually only consisted of her recording the family’s transactions and sending them to the CPA.

Sunday’s episode wasn’t the first time fans heard Janelle complain about her ex’s spending habits. On an episode in September, Janelle commented on “all the art” Kody and his only-remaining wife Robyn Brown have in their home, while also recalling how “nice” Robyn’s backyard was. 

Back in Season 17– before Janelle separated from Kody– Janelle also spoke about the poor financial state she had found herself in as a result of her polygamous marriage to Kody. During the episode, Janelle told viewers that if she were to leave Kody, she would have “no estate,” as everything she has “asset-wise, has everyone else’s name on it, too.” 

On that same episode, Janelle revealed that she had given Robyn half of the proceeds she made from selling her home in Las Vegas so that Robyn could purchase her Mountain Mansion in Flagstaff, Arizona. Kody’s ex-wife Meri Brown shared on the same episode that she, too, had given the profits from the sale of her Las Vegas home to Robyn for the same purpose.  

(As fans may recall, Robyn and Kody purchased that Flagstaff home in August 2019 for $890,000 and they sold the residence in November 2024 for nearly $1.8 million. Shortly before selling the home, Kody and Robyn majorly upgraded from their Mountain Mansion by purchasing a 7,884-square-foot home in Flagstaff for $2.1 million.) 

Kody has also been called out by some of his own children for his spending habits. 

In 2023, Gwendlyn Brown (daughter of Kody and ex-wife Christine Brown) stated in a YouTube video that she believed her dad and Robyn “have a terrible habit” of “spending very crazy and not within their means at all.” 

During the Q&A part of her YouTube, Gwendlyn was asked if her dad had attempted to right the financial wrongs he and Robyn had allegedly committed against Christine, Janelle and Meri, to which she replied, “probably not,” before adding that it was unlikely that Kody’s former wives had even tried to recoup any of the money from him and Robyn at that time.

“Janelle and Meri are kind of similar to my mom in that they’re not gonna be salty or petty and try to take money from him, even though they totally deserve it, because he’s been spending all of their money on whatever,” she said. 

As The Ashley previously told you, on a December episode of her (former) podcast The Authentic Society, Maddie Brown (daughter of Kody and Janelle) also spoke about the Brown family’s finances, recalling that her family was “very poor” before nabbing ‘Sister Wives’ in 2010. During the episode, Maddie– who is estranged from Kody— told listeners that, despite Kody earning “decent money” back in the day, the family struggled financially, largely due to the number of people in the family, as well as Kody’s poor handling of the family’s money. 

Maddie also said on her podcast that Kody “always chose the get-rich-quick scheme,” and claimed that when she was younger, her parents would “immediately” spend their tax returns instead of making an effort to save the funds.

New episodes of ‘Sister Wives’ air Sundays on TLC. 

RELATED STORY: ‘Sister Wives’ Preview: Meri & Janelle Brown Join Forces to Fight Kody Brown Over Family’s Coyote Pass Property

(Photos: TLC)