Few Minutes Ago: Janelle Brown Breaks Her Silence — Heartbreaking News About Madison & Kody Brown
There’s no question that Sister Wives’ Madison Brush and estranged dad Kody Brown’s love has been divided. But on the series’ Nov. 9 episode her mom Janelle Brown reveals they haven’t spoken in years.
When Sister Wives star Madison Brush was pregnant with her fourth baby, she wasn’t carrying very high expectations for her relationship with estranged father Kody Brown.
Asked on the Nov. 9 episode of the TLC series if the patriarch was aware their eldest daughter was due to give birth, mom Janelle Brown responded, “No, Maddie doesn’t really even tell him that she’s pregnant.”
“He’ll find out,” Kody’s second wife added, noting there was no reason to keep him in the loop beforehand. “They haven’t spoken for a long time. It’s probably been two or three years.”
And seven months after Maddie welcomed her fourth child with husband Caleb Brush in March (Emilia joined older brother Axel, 8, and sisters Evie, 6, and Josephine, 2) she delivered a scathing rebuke of her dad.
Sharing an inspirational quote to her Instagram Stories about carefully deciding what is “worth your energy” in October, the mom of four explained how she was able to reach that point.
As she wrote in a DM to one follower looking for tips, “Your dad saying lies about you for the entire world to hear teaches it to you REAL QUICK.”
And while Kody has recently begun to take ownership for his role in what he calls “the failure of the family,” any sort of repair process is going to be a lengthy one.
Instagram; Stewart Cook / FOXLast November, Maddie explained that her decision to go no-contact with her father stemmed from his insistence on calling all the shots in their relationship.
“He doesn’t have any respect for boundaries,” she noted on a 2024 episode of her The Authentic Society podcast. “And you have to play by his rules, and I just don’t care to do that.”
Calling herself “a straight shooter,” Maddie revealed her father would get upset by her honesty.
“You ask me a question, I’m going to tell you what I think,” she noted. “And he would get very angry when I would be like, ‘I don’t know why you’re surprised here.’ And so that was one of the reasons that I went no contact because it was like, he didn’t like a mirror being held up.”
At times, she added, “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.'”
Lately, though, the 30-year-old has shown a willingess to view Kody’s stance.
“You want your dad to show up,” she acknowledged in Sister Wives‘ September premiere. “You want reconciliation. I know I played a part and I’m angry because I’m still trying to learn to not be disappointed.”
As part of that, she continued, “I’m still learning how to just see him for who he is. I’m trying to understand that maybe he didn’t know how to show up. He might be hurting.”
And Kody does still seem to be healing from the knife to the kidneys he said he endured when Christine Brown left him. (Janelle followed suit soon after, as did Meri Brown, leaving fourth wife Robyn Brown as his sole remaining spouse.)
“I literally just compartmentalized the heartbreak,” the 56-year-old said in the show’s Sept. 28 episode. “I don’t know what to do. I would love healing with every single person I know.”
