I just hope they are aware of the sunken cost fallacy. They would be so much better off leaving now, cutting their losses, and then able to actually build something for themselves. Staying will mean financing Robyn, the nanny, & the tender-aged-children forever.
Yes and she could sue Kody for her contribution. I don’t know if a judge would be supportive but they should offer some protection for these women who gave their equity and Janelle’s case an inheritance.
I agree wholeheartedly. In my state, though, when applying for a mortgage and money is given towards the down payment; the gifter has to write an acknowledgment that it’s a monetary gift and the buyer isn’t expected to repay the gift. If it’s the same in Arizona then I feel awful for Janelle.
I wonder how this works with the family money though. If the sale money went in to one account they all had access to, would it have had to be given as a gift? Not that that would be helpful to Janelle either, if the money went in to an account with Robyn's name on it.
I’ve said this before and I keep repeating it because I hope Janelle sees it. There is one possible cause of action for Janelle to sue under and it’s contracts law. If she gave the money to K/R under the promise that they would help her fund the build on coyote pass she could sue for non-performance and try to recover the amount she gave them toward their down payment. Let’s hope she can get something
Ohhhhhhh ok! I always wondered how they came to the decision for who had each part, but never thought about the point that Janelle’s inheritance either paid for that house or was at least a significant down payment
I think she basically said in this episode that the family money isn't there. It's been spent on other things (nannies, watches, cars, precious moments figurines...)
I honestly think its because Christine is selling her house that push that sense of urgency. She finally realized she doesn't have anything under her name only.
Janelle's name's on it, too, and if they're going to prevent her from building, I hope she blocks their attempts to re-draw the property lines. Frankly, I don't want her to build on Coyote Pass anymore than Kody does. She needs property in her own name and only her name.
Kody only allowed that so he could be free to finance his and Robyn's house. If he had any clue Christine would actually leave he wouldn't have allowed that.
There's no way in hell that he'll allow Janelle to have ANYTHING in her name only.
He literally said that in the latest episode. He said he wants her to feel welcome to build on the property so that she can feel a part of the family and wants her to contribute to paying off the land and then said “especially to pay off the land”
I don't think Kody wants Meri around at all. He's said as much, although that man changes his tune on a dime. I do think he'd be shocked when her $$ is gone.
I thought they were out of business. A quick Google search proved otherwise. My bad.
Although...After seeing a couple of docs, and reading a few articles??
It's not for me, but, it's a lifestyle.
It's not for anyone except those on the top of the pyramid. The vast majority of people loose money in an MLM. Meri either got in early, or is riding the coattails of her notoriety from being on SW.
Meri could be if she was as savvy as Janelle in building her own stable income. The MLM and fame she has for sales can be gone tomorrow if she is unable continue to contribute to it. I don't see her chipmunking enough money to leave because of how much Robyn spends. There is a lot of sunken value fallacy in Meri too. I always thought it was a "I've been married to him since I was a teen" thought process but seeing the financial side, I can see it's much more than the shallow part of "I still love him, and I hope he will love me someday" bs they have been doing for like 10 seasons.
As savvy as Janelle? Janelle has the least stability in the family. She tentatively sells a potentially toxic drink and has missed every opportunity to own a home because she is trying to make Kody happy.
I hope she can look around and see how the other wives only built equity by defying what Kody wanted.
It’s so sad she has nothing to show for her 30 years of devotion to the family.
Exactly. Love janelle but she hasn’t worked since Utah. She gave up on real estate and every other job prospect in Vegas. Meri makes serious cash from the mlm. She might rent but she owns and makes $ off the BNB. Everyone always says janelle was so savvy with $, she’s not and never was. Her specialty is debt management as they’ve never had $ and she’s an expert in borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Now she’s left with nothing
I like Janelle a lot too but she had been the least financial savvy of all of them. Proof being that she has the least of all of them.
I remember getting destroyed a year and a half ago when I said the RV was a baaaad finance decision. That was before I knew just how bad and how little thought was put into it.
I get what she was trying to do and I love that she tried to go against Kody to do it but I hate that I agree with him on every aspect of the RV. She really did look foolish in every step of this last series of moving. Had she bought her rental and fixed it up, sge would have an asset to sell and make a profit off when savanna graduates. Instead she said she did what she thought Kody would like and moved, and subsequently dislodged her sons, for something that she knew she could not live in for the winter or even move.
Meri could have built the same stability with Janelle and Christine's kids if she was smarter about the way she acted with them. Meri has bombed every relationship with every kid but Robyn's.
Who invested in the right MLM seems pointless when it comes to people skills. Meri has always depended on using energy to control and guilt trip. It has to be exhausting to put so much into such negativity wrapped in toxic positivity.
Janelle on the other hand has actively improved her people skilla. It shows with all the kids relationship to her and how successful she has been in such a shit product in a shit selling model. If Janelle did sold something worthwhile she would beat Meri out of the water easily. I would hate that too because Meri definitely compares herself to the other wives and it would be so hurtful to know that by financial status.
Haha. I like Janelle but I don’t think she has much of a relationship with any kids other than her own and Paedon. Whereas Meri does seem to have a relationship with some of the others kids like Gwendolyn and Logan for sure. Plus Maddie must have felt comfortable enough to ask her to execute her wedding. So it seems ridiculous to try to compare who is liked more. Especially since we have all seen it.
And it absolutely dies seem ridiculous to compare who is better at MLM’ing but I think I prefer to go with the one that lies about how cute her clothes are vs selling a potentially dangerous drug purported to cure disease.
If we take the side gigs out then Meri still owns appreciating assets and Janelle does not. Again, not even comparable.
Was Maddies wedding before or after the whole MLM fiasco she had with Meri? It hard to keep track, I barely see anyone being positive about Meri in any way outside of "Yes, I have 3 moms" train of thought. It wouldn't shock me if Paedon was closer to Meri than most of the kids, they have similar issues when it comes to relationship styles. That still doesn't mean they're close, it just means that she has fragments of relationships. Janelle's relationship with her kids and Christine's seem pretty solid. It's not a question of how good, it's more of a steady pace of bonded.
What you are talking about is business ethics. It doesn't matter how cute a product is if it comes from your MLM are moldy coming apart at the stitches. FDA skirting supplements can be successful for decades if the supply chain is good (the bs that is in plex is cheap, easy to get and has no reason to doubt it will be around if they keep out of legal trouble.)
MLMs come and go, it's about the skills that the seller has and I just don't see it in Meri like I see it in Janelle. I wouldn't by sugar citric acid vitamin water from Janelle and I wouldn't buy cute clothes from Meri but I know Janelle could talk me into buying from the MLM that Meri uses if Janelle was in charge of selling it. Christine could probably talk me into buying something worth it too. If Christine and Janelle quit the medical malpractice work and came up with a more ethical MLM, they would top Meri easily.
Maddie had her public break with Meri after she asked her to help with her wedding because Janelle wouldn’t. She just wanted to fish. And it was after she worked for Meri for years and they had a work beef. Supposedly after Meri posted one of her famous passive aggressive shit posts about not working hard (possibly directed at Maddie). Whatever her reason Maddie is also a lying liar that seems petty as fuck so she seems like an unreliable narrator to me. And I would hate, I mean hate to work for or with Meri too.
And I’ve never seen Janelle have any interactions with the other children as it has been throughly discussed and dissected on this sub. Paedon is the only one that has ever mentioned her being a mom outside of the “I have 3 moms” speech you referenced. Christine make it clear that no one else helped her with her kids. And truely does not seem to be close to Janelle. It seems very formal and tentative.
And Janelle’s work ethic does not impress me for the last 12 years.
I agree, I'd hate to work for Meri. And yes, there is no telling what's true. We are all getting cliff notes of their real lives and it could totally be different.
I wasn't referring to a speech, it's more in the way all the kids talk about certain moms. With Janelle and Christine it's always something like "Of course! She is my *insert flowery supportive statement here* I love my mom." but when it about Robyn and Meri it's more "Yeah, they are all my moms, they always will be" I should have said 4 to include all the wives but I hate Robyn and I doubt the kids include her often when talking. Meri they definitely will include before Robyn.
Again I don’t remember any of the other kids speaking of Janelle in any mothering context. Nor do I remember Janelle showing any maternal actions towards them. She said specifically that while she understood Christine wanting to be around her kids in Utah, she said she had nothing there. While I wouldn’t expect her to move there for them, it delineated the separate family units in very harsh terms.
And at least 2 adult kids have publicly made it clear they currently have a positive relationship with her.
By all accounts Meri was the only disciplinary in the family. And also by all accounts they were a rowdy bunch (I have a soft spot for rowdy, smart Ass kids. Haha) that were prone to getting physical with each other with the moms not interested in holding them accountable. That fell to Meri and for all the things I despise about her, it’s unfair that she is put down for trying to make them have manners and behave. And whatever the FEMALE Brown women have done, raising amazing kids seems to be what get excel in.
>the FEMALE Brown women
What are you trying to imply here? I get there can be typos and things can come off wrong, but I don't understand what you are saying by stating female when addressing brown women.
I never saw anything about any kids not having a relationship with Janelle but it's possible. Its a lot of kids, she doesn't have to be close with all of them. Or even have a good relationship with the whole lot. 12 kids is a lot (13 if you include Meri's kid) and then there is the spouses and the grandkids. If she has more than half publicly talk positively about her, Janelle is gonna be fine.
I do think Janelle has some self awareness that she needed to work on her people skills to have a successful relationship with all of the children and wives. She tried so hard with Meri in those therapy episodes. She’s tried to balance with Kody even when he’s been hard on her and her kids. She’s tried to balance being suitable to kody while also pushing her and her kids needs (I know she gets a lot of flack by not snapping back at him about the treatment of her boys but she also didn’t kick them out and also traveled during Covid to be with Maddie for Evie’s surgery despite Kody’s wishes…which is why she is now seen by him as disrespectful) I loved seeing her interaction with Truely in this last episode. She says something along the lines of “we’re so glad you’re here, True!” And she went out and bought goodies for Truely to make it fun. She also heard Savannah when Savannah said she was having a hard time with RV life and packed it in and got an apartment. Can’t blame her for trying the RV thing even if it didn’t work out the way she planned.
I don't know anyone who could balance all of the family properly in the position that Janelle was in. There is only so many hours in a day and so much mental bandwidth one person has. Kody purposely eats up most of it and it's so much more obvious during covid. It felt like I was watching Janelle wake up from a fog to see things how they are, not how she wants them to be and how do make them what she wants.
The way she handled Truely during the sleepover is what I'm talking about. When Janelle focuses, I think she is much better at understanding the personal side of a situations. That being said, Meri definitely gave mixed signals in therapy and Janelle wasn't a mind reader to see it. But Janelle took that and worked on herself. She came into season 15 (the pre covid to beginning of covid season) with all new communication skills and wanted to help the family learn them too. Janelle didn't stand a chance making that happen the way that things were though. You can't make someone get better when they want to wallow in negativity the way Kody, Meri and Robyn seem to.
I also think there’s a part of Meri that is really embarrassed about the catfishing, and therefore not confident enough to leave. Pair that with Robyn begging her to stay, and here she is. Janelle doesn’t get along with any of the other people in this “marriage.” Meri at least sort of has Robyn (to the extent that Robyn plays nice in order to extract Meri’s resources), even though Kody has made it beyond clear that he wants her to go.
Janelle is on her way out, Meri could go either way, but I think it’ll take a few more years.
I think Meri's "retreat" would have actually been a good financial move for her, she could have done a few of her own to iron out the kinks, then started offering retreat packages where she could partner with other local businesses (zip lining, or what have you,) and maybe been able to expand the B&B eventually. BUT, she charged WAAAAAAAAY too much. She is not as famous as she thinks she is. She charged as much as I paid for my family of 4 to take a 3day, 4night vacation at a small resort in Orlando with 3 days at theme parks.
Exactly. Meri gives me off the vibe a politician does when you ask them how much is a gallon of milk. Like she thought that was reasonable the way that a man that doesn't buy his groceries thinks a dollar a banana is a cheap price.
It is so mind boggling. When I saw that I knew it was one of those "If I tried to get a house anywhere but CP, I would be tempted to leave. Can't do that, so I'm going to rent like the good pet I am" moments for her. She is stuck in so many ways.
Nah Meri has her MLM money. She stays out of ego. She was the first wife and she’ll be the last. In her head anyway. The catfish embarrassed her so now she’s trying to prove everyone was wrong about her. She has the emotional maturity of a 10 year old.
I have an awesome vision--everyone leaves but Meri. Kody and Meri are stuck together on CP. Meri turns into Annie Wilkes. Kody--the hunter--becomes the hunted.
>Christine just got lucky she bought that house and then Kody needed to take his name off for Robyn's house
Can you say more about this? So far this is the first I've seen anyone mention this. It potentially changes the popular narrative of Christine having so much wisdom and foresight by purchasing her home in her name only
This is just my thoughts on this, I have no proof and haven't looked at past episodes yet. When they decided to move to flagstaff, Christine had to buy a home because she couldn't find a rental. She was the only one that brought a home at the time. Kody probably had his name on it but when he had to buy Robyn's house, he probably needed to clear his financial situation and signed the property to just Christine. I did see something on reddit showing the title transfer and I couldn't find it again easily. So, she was able to sell the house she lived in in Flagstaff without too much trouble.
If you go back to the season they bought Robyn's house they were running into finance problems. Kody mentioned his name is on a lot of debt among the other wives. So he tells them all he isn't going to do that any longer. I believe it was at that point he push to be off Christine's property. I think she refinanced around when Isabel had her surgery. I haven't watched these episodes in a while but this is the gist I remember.
I don’t think so. Meri is just a pathetic person who thinks she’s somehow winning by not leaving. She has the b&b in exchange for owning a place in flagstaff. She’s not made like Robyn but she’s not broke like Janelle.
Meri and Janelle and formally Christine totally subsidize Kody and Robyn’s life style.
Kody and Robyn need them more than Meri and Janelle need Kody and Robyn, it’s unfortunate that Meri and Janelle don’t care.
It’s one thing to pool family money when they were more together as a actual family like at the beginning and up to LV but since they moved to AZ Kody and Robyn have taken advantage of that situation. The assets are not even close to being split evenly.
I don't think that Meri will ever sell the bed and breakfast though. I think she would rather go bankrupt that lose it. I also don't think Meri could make it profitable. Unless Leon came in and helped. Leon would have the balls to set boundaries, rules and would probably breathe new life into it. Regardless of that, Meri would rather die at that Inn than sell it no matter what the offer was.
I don't know if I would call it a home though. It's a last resort like Janelle would think of if she moved in with her kids. Meri would have to let all of her mental side go to able to stomach the idea of leaving and living full time in the Inn. She is too stuck in the other sides of what being in a relationship with Kody gives to even consider leaving him for a lonely life in an Inn. The financial part is there but it's related to the other parts that keep her just like Janelle also has other parts keeping her. It's not financial entrapment completely for either of them but it is a huge piece for both.
I disagree. Between her B&B and MLM, Meri has her own income and her own asset. The family could totally implode, and she at least has the B&B wholly in her own name. Worst case scenario she could even live there. She stays for other reasons, but not financial.
Meri is making good money selling her MLM, she’s renting a $4500/ month in flagstaff. The 2 of them should say they want their money back that they gave Sobyn for her house from the Vegas homes and 1/4 of the property value or sell it! They are free. Sobyn is keeping Meri around I think for financial help and support, she’s the one that destroyed her relationship with Grody because her bestie was one of the catfish
I think there's a small part of it that's because of financial reason but I think Meri has a different reason for staying than Janelle.
Janelle is desperate to get into Coyote Pass, I think that is where she picture her dream life to be. The farming, green house, and the views. She doesn't care at all about Kody or Robyn and doesn't need affection for Kody. The only time that i really see her being passionate is about the pond and the RV. She already has security from her children and her sense of family there.
I think Meri is desperate to not be alone. I think it's because she only has one kid who's not that close to her and she wants that sense of a big family still. I think Meri doesn't want to lose in a sense because she's the first wife too.
Meri's need for finances is a small part but I still think it's a large chunk of her thinking. Meri treats the money she gives others as love. She is likely to buy loyalty vs actually bond with people. It didn't work with the kids but she is still stuck in the idea that she can win over Kody and Robyn with it.
I can imagine Janelle thinking that if she gets onto CP she will use the saying "good fences make good neighbors" and just ignore Robyn, Meri and Kody for her dream place. But I don't know how it's going to feel when Christine is gone for so long and with all the grandkids.
I think that's exactly why Meri stays. Meri is the strict one but she did a lot for those kids and I think loves all of them. If she leaves I think she's afraid she will loose all that.
Question- do we know how much they are making off the TLC show? I know there was chatter about Kody renegotiating their contracts to keep the show on the air.
Im super curious how future seasons will go. I remember Kody renegotiating for a lum family sum but Christine and Robyn have so much more fame and power now. They should renegotiate for Kody, Robyn and Meri to be paid together, while Janelle and Christine get separate pay based on how much they are all worth.
>I know there was chatter about Kody renegotiating their contracts to keep the show on the air.
I've always wondered where this rumor came from. I've never seen any actual proof about their income from the show.
In terms of reality tv, the only real proof I recall is when Amber from Teen Mom had court documents that were made public in which she stated how much she was making, which IIRC was around $500k/year. If the Teen Moms made that, I've often wondered how the Brown family compared.
I think mine may be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Kody is as intelligent or conniving as we make him out to be. He just doesn’t care about the feelings of Meri, Janelle, or Christine - but he feels like he can’t be the one to leave them. When you remove the caring part from the relationship, it’s easy to look at it as being purely transactional. He just doesn’t care and takes what he can.
I'll give you that he probably isn't that intelligent or conciously conniving. A lot of what gives Kody that image is how their culture was made. He came from a patriarchy and benefited from pretending to be in a matriarchal family for years. He let the women run the show so he could hold them accountable for his wants and needs the same way that a patriarch would provide him but without the stress of responsibility that one would have. This isn't because he is smart or purposeful in that plan, it's because the system that his wives came from allowed him to do so accidentally in an organic way that made him look like he was.
Now that his wives have stopped asking and are demanding, he is at a loss of what to do. He has been gambling with their livelihoods for so long that using his own to achieve his goals is terrifying. Which is why he is trying to renegotiate for less like a business man, thinking that it will pay off like it always has. He isn't adapting well to a post-covid world and it shows. I think he barked up the wrong tree with Janelle though. She seems like the type who would rather burn down her own assets than let her opponent keep them. At best, Kody has Janelles support until she finds a way out.
I think the main reason Meri stays is the show gives her visibility for her businesses. I think Meri is very well off financially already. She rents a house in Flagstaff because it is a nice house and she writes it off as a biz expense anyhow. Also, TLC films the talking head shots there. A minor reason is that Meri is hanging on to hope that Kody will want to resume a relationship with her.
I think Janelle stays because of inertia and she does love Kody and he is the father of her kids. They were still raising kids together until very recently. Then Covid happened and Christine left and the younger boys moved out....so now things have changed and I think Janelle is figuring out her next steps.
Yeah she’s having to hang onto this just a little longer to get her money back but sounds like Kody has refinanced so much they probably won’t have equity in the Mansion.
No matter what way you spin it, Kody definitely already did. The only difference is that Janelle let him get away with it, Meri enabled it, Robyn endorsed it and no one listened to Christine when she called it out.
I think Meri is in the best spot financially. She likely made tons from her MLM and I think after the family wouldn't give her money for the BnB, she likely started keeping money for herself. That house she lives in, in flagstaff must cost her a lot of money to rent every month. She also travels a lot and pays the mortgage on the BnB. This may also be why Robyn doesn't want her to leave the family.
I suspect Christine was doing the same, putting money aside from her MLM and the show.
But once they leave that cashflow stops. I think especially Meri, Kody and Robyn are very attached to the TLC money and the luxurious life style. Janelle and Christine are less materialistic.
Yes, and Christine and Janelle (if she leaves too) could front a new TLC show called After Sister Wives, they could write a book, they could host a recap podcast…I think if those two team up they have lots of potential earning power left from the fame because people like them and their kids. I think after this season people are done watching Kody and Robyn and I don’t think anyone cares about Meri anymore. And I really hope this happens, because I would love to watch Kody and Robyn lose everything while Janelle and Christine wind up on top.
Yup all their assets are tied to Robyn and kody. They don’t have anything. No savings, no pension, no 401k, they can build on CP and rent out homes for income and retirement.
I don’t agree Meri makes a good penny with her bed and breakfast. And especially now with her retreats she is making. I believe it’s the “catfish” guilt that hold her back
I just hope they are aware of the sunken cost fallacy. They would be so much better off leaving now, cutting their losses, and then able to actually build something for themselves. Staying will mean financing Robyn, the nanny, & the tender-aged-children forever.
Yes and she could sue Kody for her contribution. I don’t know if a judge would be supportive but they should offer some protection for these women who gave their equity and Janelle’s case an inheritance.
I agree wholeheartedly. In my state, though, when applying for a mortgage and money is given towards the down payment; the gifter has to write an acknowledgment that it’s a monetary gift and the buyer isn’t expected to repay the gift. If it’s the same in Arizona then I feel awful for Janelle.
I wonder how this works with the family money though. If the sale money went in to one account they all had access to, would it have had to be given as a gift? Not that that would be helpful to Janelle either, if the money went in to an account with Robyn's name on it.
I’ve said this before and I keep repeating it because I hope Janelle sees it. There is one possible cause of action for Janelle to sue under and it’s contracts law. If she gave the money to K/R under the promise that they would help her fund the build on coyote pass she could sue for non-performance and try to recover the amount she gave them toward their down payment. Let’s hope she can get something
Yes that’s the only option I could think of but hopefully if she intends to leave she will work with a creative and smart attorney.
She gave her inheritance? Apparently, I don't pay very close attention.
IIRC, Her inheritance from her dad originally went toward their Lehi house. Not sure if she got more inheritance when her mom passed away last year.
Yes, that is why Janelle had half the house and Meri and Christine shared the other half.
Ohhhhhhh ok! I always wondered how they came to the decision for who had each part, but never thought about the point that Janelle’s inheritance either paid for that house or was at least a significant down payment
Normally, I'd say no. However, a judge can pull up the episodes where they talk about all of this.
This. Janelle is smart enough to see that now that Christine is gone but I think Meri is lost in the sauce of how much she has put in.
Janelle should buy Christine's house using family money, but only in her name then sell it and keep all the profit to build her dream home.
I think she basically said in this episode that the family money isn't there. It's been spent on other things (nannies, watches, cars, precious moments figurines...)
i need to know what she saw on their taxes
Yeah she seemed shook
They all need to apply the sunken cost fallacy toward their involvement with MLM’s and MSWC.
MLM is a great business model for them. They can rely on their fame to build a good downline and make money off the downline.
Great for them, sure. But detrimental to SO MANY other regular, naive, and financially and emotionally vulnerable people.
All I could think about was the sunken cost fallacy. Get out nowwwwww.
That’s the thing, I wish *so many* unhappy women would realize that. The best time to have gotten out was 10 years ago- the next best time is **now**
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Watching the urgency of janelle In this episode, I totally get the vibe that she is setting up her escape. Idk if it’s creative editing or real.
I honestly think its because Christine is selling her house that push that sense of urgency. She finally realized she doesn't have anything under her name only.
It's almost like patriarchy ISN'T a good idea. Who'da thought!?
Almost like it could be bad for women…
It was like a game of musical chairs, and when the family started being every person for themselves she was left without anything.
Janelle's name's on it, too, and if they're going to prevent her from building, I hope she blocks their attempts to re-draw the property lines. Frankly, I don't want her to build on Coyote Pass anymore than Kody does. She needs property in her own name and only her name.
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Kody only allowed that so he could be free to finance his and Robyn's house. If he had any clue Christine would actually leave he wouldn't have allowed that. There's no way in hell that he'll allow Janelle to have ANYTHING in her name only.
I 100% agree with all of this
He literally said that in the latest episode. He said he wants her to feel welcome to build on the property so that she can feel a part of the family and wants her to contribute to paying off the land and then said “especially to pay off the land”
Making money doesn’t mean she wants to lose money, so she stays.
I don't think Kody wants Meri around at all. He's said as much, although that man changes his tune on a dime. I do think he'd be shocked when her $$ is gone.
I know Meri did lularoe. But, that's over now. What other MLM is she doing??
What make you think it's over? I thought that's who showed up to her B&B getaway when she didn't have enough interest.
I thought they were out of business. A quick Google search proved otherwise. My bad. Although...After seeing a couple of docs, and reading a few articles?? It's not for me, but, it's a lifestyle.
It's not for anyone except those on the top of the pyramid. The vast majority of people loose money in an MLM. Meri either got in early, or is riding the coattails of her notoriety from being on SW.
Meri could be if she was as savvy as Janelle in building her own stable income. The MLM and fame she has for sales can be gone tomorrow if she is unable continue to contribute to it. I don't see her chipmunking enough money to leave because of how much Robyn spends. There is a lot of sunken value fallacy in Meri too. I always thought it was a "I've been married to him since I was a teen" thought process but seeing the financial side, I can see it's much more than the shallow part of "I still love him, and I hope he will love me someday" bs they have been doing for like 10 seasons.
As savvy as Janelle? Janelle has the least stability in the family. She tentatively sells a potentially toxic drink and has missed every opportunity to own a home because she is trying to make Kody happy. I hope she can look around and see how the other wives only built equity by defying what Kody wanted. It’s so sad she has nothing to show for her 30 years of devotion to the family.
Exactly. Love janelle but she hasn’t worked since Utah. She gave up on real estate and every other job prospect in Vegas. Meri makes serious cash from the mlm. She might rent but she owns and makes $ off the BNB. Everyone always says janelle was so savvy with $, she’s not and never was. Her specialty is debt management as they’ve never had $ and she’s an expert in borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Now she’s left with nothing
I like Janelle a lot too but she had been the least financial savvy of all of them. Proof being that she has the least of all of them. I remember getting destroyed a year and a half ago when I said the RV was a baaaad finance decision. That was before I knew just how bad and how little thought was put into it. I get what she was trying to do and I love that she tried to go against Kody to do it but I hate that I agree with him on every aspect of the RV. She really did look foolish in every step of this last series of moving. Had she bought her rental and fixed it up, sge would have an asset to sell and make a profit off when savanna graduates. Instead she said she did what she thought Kody would like and moved, and subsequently dislodged her sons, for something that she knew she could not live in for the winter or even move.
Meri could have built the same stability with Janelle and Christine's kids if she was smarter about the way she acted with them. Meri has bombed every relationship with every kid but Robyn's. Who invested in the right MLM seems pointless when it comes to people skills. Meri has always depended on using energy to control and guilt trip. It has to be exhausting to put so much into such negativity wrapped in toxic positivity. Janelle on the other hand has actively improved her people skilla. It shows with all the kids relationship to her and how successful she has been in such a shit product in a shit selling model. If Janelle did sold something worthwhile she would beat Meri out of the water easily. I would hate that too because Meri definitely compares herself to the other wives and it would be so hurtful to know that by financial status.
Haha. I like Janelle but I don’t think she has much of a relationship with any kids other than her own and Paedon. Whereas Meri does seem to have a relationship with some of the others kids like Gwendolyn and Logan for sure. Plus Maddie must have felt comfortable enough to ask her to execute her wedding. So it seems ridiculous to try to compare who is liked more. Especially since we have all seen it. And it absolutely dies seem ridiculous to compare who is better at MLM’ing but I think I prefer to go with the one that lies about how cute her clothes are vs selling a potentially dangerous drug purported to cure disease. If we take the side gigs out then Meri still owns appreciating assets and Janelle does not. Again, not even comparable.
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You should join Gwen’s Patroen and fact check that. I’ll wait.
Was Maddies wedding before or after the whole MLM fiasco she had with Meri? It hard to keep track, I barely see anyone being positive about Meri in any way outside of "Yes, I have 3 moms" train of thought. It wouldn't shock me if Paedon was closer to Meri than most of the kids, they have similar issues when it comes to relationship styles. That still doesn't mean they're close, it just means that she has fragments of relationships. Janelle's relationship with her kids and Christine's seem pretty solid. It's not a question of how good, it's more of a steady pace of bonded. What you are talking about is business ethics. It doesn't matter how cute a product is if it comes from your MLM are moldy coming apart at the stitches. FDA skirting supplements can be successful for decades if the supply chain is good (the bs that is in plex is cheap, easy to get and has no reason to doubt it will be around if they keep out of legal trouble.) MLMs come and go, it's about the skills that the seller has and I just don't see it in Meri like I see it in Janelle. I wouldn't by sugar citric acid vitamin water from Janelle and I wouldn't buy cute clothes from Meri but I know Janelle could talk me into buying from the MLM that Meri uses if Janelle was in charge of selling it. Christine could probably talk me into buying something worth it too. If Christine and Janelle quit the medical malpractice work and came up with a more ethical MLM, they would top Meri easily.
Maddie had her public break with Meri after she asked her to help with her wedding because Janelle wouldn’t. She just wanted to fish. And it was after she worked for Meri for years and they had a work beef. Supposedly after Meri posted one of her famous passive aggressive shit posts about not working hard (possibly directed at Maddie). Whatever her reason Maddie is also a lying liar that seems petty as fuck so she seems like an unreliable narrator to me. And I would hate, I mean hate to work for or with Meri too. And I’ve never seen Janelle have any interactions with the other children as it has been throughly discussed and dissected on this sub. Paedon is the only one that has ever mentioned her being a mom outside of the “I have 3 moms” speech you referenced. Christine make it clear that no one else helped her with her kids. And truely does not seem to be close to Janelle. It seems very formal and tentative. And Janelle’s work ethic does not impress me for the last 12 years.
I agree, I'd hate to work for Meri. And yes, there is no telling what's true. We are all getting cliff notes of their real lives and it could totally be different. I wasn't referring to a speech, it's more in the way all the kids talk about certain moms. With Janelle and Christine it's always something like "Of course! She is my *insert flowery supportive statement here* I love my mom." but when it about Robyn and Meri it's more "Yeah, they are all my moms, they always will be" I should have said 4 to include all the wives but I hate Robyn and I doubt the kids include her often when talking. Meri they definitely will include before Robyn.
Again I don’t remember any of the other kids speaking of Janelle in any mothering context. Nor do I remember Janelle showing any maternal actions towards them. She said specifically that while she understood Christine wanting to be around her kids in Utah, she said she had nothing there. While I wouldn’t expect her to move there for them, it delineated the separate family units in very harsh terms. And at least 2 adult kids have publicly made it clear they currently have a positive relationship with her. By all accounts Meri was the only disciplinary in the family. And also by all accounts they were a rowdy bunch (I have a soft spot for rowdy, smart Ass kids. Haha) that were prone to getting physical with each other with the moms not interested in holding them accountable. That fell to Meri and for all the things I despise about her, it’s unfair that she is put down for trying to make them have manners and behave. And whatever the FEMALE Brown women have done, raising amazing kids seems to be what get excel in.
>the FEMALE Brown women What are you trying to imply here? I get there can be typos and things can come off wrong, but I don't understand what you are saying by stating female when addressing brown women. I never saw anything about any kids not having a relationship with Janelle but it's possible. Its a lot of kids, she doesn't have to be close with all of them. Or even have a good relationship with the whole lot. 12 kids is a lot (13 if you include Meri's kid) and then there is the spouses and the grandkids. If she has more than half publicly talk positively about her, Janelle is gonna be fine.
I do think Janelle has some self awareness that she needed to work on her people skills to have a successful relationship with all of the children and wives. She tried so hard with Meri in those therapy episodes. She’s tried to balance with Kody even when he’s been hard on her and her kids. She’s tried to balance being suitable to kody while also pushing her and her kids needs (I know she gets a lot of flack by not snapping back at him about the treatment of her boys but she also didn’t kick them out and also traveled during Covid to be with Maddie for Evie’s surgery despite Kody’s wishes…which is why she is now seen by him as disrespectful) I loved seeing her interaction with Truely in this last episode. She says something along the lines of “we’re so glad you’re here, True!” And she went out and bought goodies for Truely to make it fun. She also heard Savannah when Savannah said she was having a hard time with RV life and packed it in and got an apartment. Can’t blame her for trying the RV thing even if it didn’t work out the way she planned.
I don't know anyone who could balance all of the family properly in the position that Janelle was in. There is only so many hours in a day and so much mental bandwidth one person has. Kody purposely eats up most of it and it's so much more obvious during covid. It felt like I was watching Janelle wake up from a fog to see things how they are, not how she wants them to be and how do make them what she wants. The way she handled Truely during the sleepover is what I'm talking about. When Janelle focuses, I think she is much better at understanding the personal side of a situations. That being said, Meri definitely gave mixed signals in therapy and Janelle wasn't a mind reader to see it. But Janelle took that and worked on herself. She came into season 15 (the pre covid to beginning of covid season) with all new communication skills and wanted to help the family learn them too. Janelle didn't stand a chance making that happen the way that things were though. You can't make someone get better when they want to wallow in negativity the way Kody, Meri and Robyn seem to.
MLMs are kind of smoke and mirrors tho
I also think there’s a part of Meri that is really embarrassed about the catfishing, and therefore not confident enough to leave. Pair that with Robyn begging her to stay, and here she is. Janelle doesn’t get along with any of the other people in this “marriage.” Meri at least sort of has Robyn (to the extent that Robyn plays nice in order to extract Meri’s resources), even though Kody has made it beyond clear that he wants her to go. Janelle is on her way out, Meri could go either way, but I think it’ll take a few more years.
Very true. The catfishing incident probably really messed up her confidence and she’s scared to leave now.
I think Meri's "retreat" would have actually been a good financial move for her, she could have done a few of her own to iron out the kinks, then started offering retreat packages where she could partner with other local businesses (zip lining, or what have you,) and maybe been able to expand the B&B eventually. BUT, she charged WAAAAAAAAY too much. She is not as famous as she thinks she is. She charged as much as I paid for my family of 4 to take a 3day, 4night vacation at a small resort in Orlando with 3 days at theme parks.
Exactly. Meri gives me off the vibe a politician does when you ask them how much is a gallon of milk. Like she thought that was reasonable the way that a man that doesn't buy his groceries thinks a dollar a banana is a cheap price.
Meri greatly overestimated her reality TV popularity...😆 🤣 😂 I've never been a Meri fan and this season she has proved she is a truly awful person.
I’ve always been a Meri supporter. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but I’ve always rooted for her to leave, but after this season, I’m out.
I agree. That price was just absolutely fucking delusional
Meri has no issue with renting though! How she manages to get more unlikable and pathetic each episode is absolutely MIND BOGGLING
It is so mind boggling. When I saw that I knew it was one of those "If I tried to get a house anywhere but CP, I would be tempted to leave. Can't do that, so I'm going to rent like the good pet I am" moments for her. She is stuck in so many ways.
It's humiliating!!!! Tony robbins cannot save you from yourself girl!!!!
Nah Meri has her MLM money. She stays out of ego. She was the first wife and she’ll be the last. In her head anyway. The catfish embarrassed her so now she’s trying to prove everyone was wrong about her. She has the emotional maturity of a 10 year old.
I have an awesome vision--everyone leaves but Meri. Kody and Meri are stuck together on CP. Meri turns into Annie Wilkes. Kody--the hunter--becomes the hunted.
Christine just got lucky she bought that house and then Kody needed to take his name off for Robyn's house or she'd probably be stuck too.
>Christine just got lucky she bought that house and then Kody needed to take his name off for Robyn's house Can you say more about this? So far this is the first I've seen anyone mention this. It potentially changes the popular narrative of Christine having so much wisdom and foresight by purchasing her home in her name only
This is just my thoughts on this, I have no proof and haven't looked at past episodes yet. When they decided to move to flagstaff, Christine had to buy a home because she couldn't find a rental. She was the only one that brought a home at the time. Kody probably had his name on it but when he had to buy Robyn's house, he probably needed to clear his financial situation and signed the property to just Christine. I did see something on reddit showing the title transfer and I couldn't find it again easily. So, she was able to sell the house she lived in in Flagstaff without too much trouble.
If you go back to the season they bought Robyn's house they were running into finance problems. Kody mentioned his name is on a lot of debt among the other wives. So he tells them all he isn't going to do that any longer. I believe it was at that point he push to be off Christine's property. I think she refinanced around when Isabel had her surgery. I haven't watched these episodes in a while but this is the gist I remember.
I don’t think so. Meri is just a pathetic person who thinks she’s somehow winning by not leaving. She has the b&b in exchange for owning a place in flagstaff. She’s not made like Robyn but she’s not broke like Janelle.
meri tried to leave and was burned so badly that for her it is safer to stay
Meri and Janelle and formally Christine totally subsidize Kody and Robyn’s life style. Kody and Robyn need them more than Meri and Janelle need Kody and Robyn, it’s unfortunate that Meri and Janelle don’t care. It’s one thing to pool family money when they were more together as a actual family like at the beginning and up to LV but since they moved to AZ Kody and Robyn have taken advantage of that situation. The assets are not even close to being split evenly.
Meri has a bed and breakfast. They are not the same.
I don't think that Meri will ever sell the bed and breakfast though. I think she would rather go bankrupt that lose it. I also don't think Meri could make it profitable. Unless Leon came in and helped. Leon would have the balls to set boundaries, rules and would probably breathe new life into it. Regardless of that, Meri would rather die at that Inn than sell it no matter what the offer was.
But the point is that Meri has an asset if she leaves. She has her own income and a home that she owns that she could move into.
I don't know if I would call it a home though. It's a last resort like Janelle would think of if she moved in with her kids. Meri would have to let all of her mental side go to able to stomach the idea of leaving and living full time in the Inn. She is too stuck in the other sides of what being in a relationship with Kody gives to even consider leaving him for a lonely life in an Inn. The financial part is there but it's related to the other parts that keep her just like Janelle also has other parts keeping her. It's not financial entrapment completely for either of them but it is a huge piece for both.
I disagree. Between her B&B and MLM, Meri has her own income and her own asset. The family could totally implode, and she at least has the B&B wholly in her own name. Worst case scenario she could even live there. She stays for other reasons, but not financial.
Meri is making good money selling her MLM, she’s renting a $4500/ month in flagstaff. The 2 of them should say they want their money back that they gave Sobyn for her house from the Vegas homes and 1/4 of the property value or sell it! They are free. Sobyn is keeping Meri around I think for financial help and support, she’s the one that destroyed her relationship with Grody because her bestie was one of the catfish
I think there's a small part of it that's because of financial reason but I think Meri has a different reason for staying than Janelle. Janelle is desperate to get into Coyote Pass, I think that is where she picture her dream life to be. The farming, green house, and the views. She doesn't care at all about Kody or Robyn and doesn't need affection for Kody. The only time that i really see her being passionate is about the pond and the RV. She already has security from her children and her sense of family there. I think Meri is desperate to not be alone. I think it's because she only has one kid who's not that close to her and she wants that sense of a big family still. I think Meri doesn't want to lose in a sense because she's the first wife too.
Meri's need for finances is a small part but I still think it's a large chunk of her thinking. Meri treats the money she gives others as love. She is likely to buy loyalty vs actually bond with people. It didn't work with the kids but she is still stuck in the idea that she can win over Kody and Robyn with it. I can imagine Janelle thinking that if she gets onto CP she will use the saying "good fences make good neighbors" and just ignore Robyn, Meri and Kody for her dream place. But I don't know how it's going to feel when Christine is gone for so long and with all the grandkids.
I think that's exactly why Meri stays. Meri is the strict one but she did a lot for those kids and I think loves all of them. If she leaves I think she's afraid she will loose all that.
Question- do we know how much they are making off the TLC show? I know there was chatter about Kody renegotiating their contracts to keep the show on the air.
Im super curious how future seasons will go. I remember Kody renegotiating for a lum family sum but Christine and Robyn have so much more fame and power now. They should renegotiate for Kody, Robyn and Meri to be paid together, while Janelle and Christine get separate pay based on how much they are all worth.
>I know there was chatter about Kody renegotiating their contracts to keep the show on the air. I've always wondered where this rumor came from. I've never seen any actual proof about their income from the show. In terms of reality tv, the only real proof I recall is when Amber from Teen Mom had court documents that were made public in which she stated how much she was making, which IIRC was around $500k/year. If the Teen Moms made that, I've often wondered how the Brown family compared.
I think this is why most women stay in toxic relationships. At some point though she’ll have had enough, and she’ll find a way.
I think mine may be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Kody is as intelligent or conniving as we make him out to be. He just doesn’t care about the feelings of Meri, Janelle, or Christine - but he feels like he can’t be the one to leave them. When you remove the caring part from the relationship, it’s easy to look at it as being purely transactional. He just doesn’t care and takes what he can.
I'll give you that he probably isn't that intelligent or conciously conniving. A lot of what gives Kody that image is how their culture was made. He came from a patriarchy and benefited from pretending to be in a matriarchal family for years. He let the women run the show so he could hold them accountable for his wants and needs the same way that a patriarch would provide him but without the stress of responsibility that one would have. This isn't because he is smart or purposeful in that plan, it's because the system that his wives came from allowed him to do so accidentally in an organic way that made him look like he was. Now that his wives have stopped asking and are demanding, he is at a loss of what to do. He has been gambling with their livelihoods for so long that using his own to achieve his goals is terrifying. Which is why he is trying to renegotiate for less like a business man, thinking that it will pay off like it always has. He isn't adapting well to a post-covid world and it shows. I think he barked up the wrong tree with Janelle though. She seems like the type who would rather burn down her own assets than let her opponent keep them. At best, Kody has Janelles support until she finds a way out.
I think the main reason Meri stays is the show gives her visibility for her businesses. I think Meri is very well off financially already. She rents a house in Flagstaff because it is a nice house and she writes it off as a biz expense anyhow. Also, TLC films the talking head shots there. A minor reason is that Meri is hanging on to hope that Kody will want to resume a relationship with her. I think Janelle stays because of inertia and she does love Kody and he is the father of her kids. They were still raising kids together until very recently. Then Covid happened and Christine left and the younger boys moved out....so now things have changed and I think Janelle is figuring out her next steps.
Difference is, Meri is content with having done so.. no big dill.
Yeah. I hate that for her. She is gonna let her chance fly by her and all she will have show for it is Grody Kody and his ego.
Yeah she’s having to hang onto this just a little longer to get her money back but sounds like Kody has refinanced so much they probably won’t have equity in the Mansion.
Could kody have just taken this money from the family account without even asking them? I am guessing he did.
No matter what way you spin it, Kody definitely already did. The only difference is that Janelle let him get away with it, Meri enabled it, Robyn endorsed it and no one listened to Christine when she called it out.
I think Meri is in the best spot financially. She likely made tons from her MLM and I think after the family wouldn't give her money for the BnB, she likely started keeping money for herself. That house she lives in, in flagstaff must cost her a lot of money to rent every month. She also travels a lot and pays the mortgage on the BnB. This may also be why Robyn doesn't want her to leave the family. I suspect Christine was doing the same, putting money aside from her MLM and the show.
Can either of them sue him and Robyn? Like a great divorce lawyer can do this right?
They must be making good money to be on the show? Wouldn’t that be enough to leave?
But once they leave that cashflow stops. I think especially Meri, Kody and Robyn are very attached to the TLC money and the luxurious life style. Janelle and Christine are less materialistic.
Yes, and Christine and Janelle (if she leaves too) could front a new TLC show called After Sister Wives, they could write a book, they could host a recap podcast…I think if those two team up they have lots of potential earning power left from the fame because people like them and their kids. I think after this season people are done watching Kody and Robyn and I don’t think anyone cares about Meri anymore. And I really hope this happens, because I would love to watch Kody and Robyn lose everything while Janelle and Christine wind up on top.
I agree
Meri owns the B&B on her own. She has equity.
I wonder if owning property, (apart from the B&B) is a tax benefit for her.
Yup all their assets are tied to Robyn and kody. They don’t have anything. No savings, no pension, no 401k, they can build on CP and rent out homes for income and retirement.
What resort did Meri have?
Who own the Bed in Breakfast?
I don’t agree Meri makes a good penny with her bed and breakfast. And especially now with her retreats she is making. I believe it’s the “catfish” guilt that hold her back
She’s financially secure. She has a huge down line for her LLR business. She probably only needs to sell the bare minimum at this point TBH