A bad joke by Kody Brown looks much worse in light of Garrison Brown’s recent tragic death. Kody probably regrets the mistakes he made with his sons.

Sister Wives patriarch Kody Brown once made a terrible joke about his sons being dead to him, a joke that is even less funny in light of Garrison Brown’s recent tragic death. When the series premiered in 2010, Kody lived with his three wives and 12 children in a large house in Utah. They were intended to present the image of a happy plural family, to contrast all the ugly images in the media. By the Sister Wives season 18 finale, Kody’s first three wives had left him, and he was no longer speaking to several of his adult children.

Everything changed for the Brown family when Kody married his fourth wife, Robyn Brown, and incorporated her and her three children from her previous marriage into their already massive clan. Things got even more complicated when the Browns left Utah and moved into four separate homes in Arizona, further taxing Kody’s already limited time. When it became clear that Kody favored his new wife, it was too much for his other wives to endure, and the family slowly unraveled. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it divided the Sister Wives family even further and triggered Kody’s feud with his older sons.

Kody Brown’s “Joke” Was So Cringe

About a year ago, In December 2022, Reddit user Apprehensive_Rise528 posted a six-second clip from Sister Wives in which Kody makes a bad joke about not having any sons. In the clip, the show cuts between shots of Garrison and Gabriel Brown playing video games in the house while Kody digs a hole in the backyard to bury the family time capsule.

As he’s digging the hole all by himself, Kody jokingly says, ” I don’t have any sons, they’re all dead to me .”

It was obviously a bad joke, and Kody couldn’t have known that Garrison would tragically die by suicide at such a young age, but jokes like this always carry a little bit of truth in them. The pandemic exposed that Kody’s older children resented him for never having enough time for them. Kody’s joke was clearly based on something very real that had long been simmering just under the surface. He should have addressed the issue rather than joking about it.

Kody Brown Also Called His Sons “Jerks”

During the October 15 episode of Sister Wives season 18, Kody said of his older children, “All of you are just kind of jerks.” He made the comment during a heated discussion about the family’s dynamic during the pandemic. Kody was estranged from sons Garrison and Gabriel, whom he shares with his second wife, Janelle Brown because they couldn’t follow his and Robyn’s overly strict virus mitigation rules. Kody was so furious about their refusal to follow his rules that he went so far as to refuse to see them, and they resented him for it.

” I haven’t been in touch with Gabriel and Garrison for quite a while . I’m pretty sad that I’m not close anymore .”

This dynamic even triggered Kody’s divorce from Janelle. At one point, Kody demanded that Janelle kick her adult sons out of the house so that he could spend more time there. When she didn’t do so, it triggered the biggest fight they’d ever had during their entire marriage, and they could never recover.

During another season 18 episode, Kody claimed to have tried to reach out to them, but that they were both blocking him.

Kody Brown Hoped To “Get Over” Problems With His Sons

During the November 5, 2023, episode of Sister Wives season 18, Kody said that he’s hopeful he can mend the relationship with Garrison and Gabriel. “I haven’t been in touch with Gabriel and Garrison for quite a while,” Kody confessed. “I’m pretty sad that I’m not close anymore.” It’s sad to think that it’s too late for Kody to mend his relationship with Garrison, but hopefully, he can find a way to make things right with Gabriel. If Garrison’s death should have taught Kody anything, it’s that you never know when it’s too late to make things right.