'Sister Wives' Star Meri Brown on 'Derogatory' Comments From Fans: 'I Know What I'm Worth'
Meri hit back at 'Sister Wives' viewers who use her plural marriage as a reason to comment on her self-esteem.
Sister Wives star Meri Brown recently opened up about receiving "derogatory" comments from fans. Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE, Brown shared about "misconceptions" viewers have, saying that "people are always telling me, 'You don't know what you're worth. You have no value.' Just really derogatory [things] about me."
"And it's like, no, actually, I know what I'm worth, and I know what my value is, and I know what my values are," Meri continued, hitting back at critics who presumed that being in a plural marriage had a negative impact on her self-esteem. "This is why I worked to try to save my marriage for so long. A lot of people look at it as because I waited so long, it means I have no confidence." Meri says that it was the opposite, in fact, and her "confidence" gave her the emotional space to work out the issues in her marriage.
"I think that's a huge, huge misconception," she said. "I 100% gave it my all. I did everything in my power that I could do. And if I would've walked away any sooner, there would've always been a question in my mind of, 'Did I do everything that I can do?'" Meri is now "very confident" that she did "everything" she could for her marriage, saying she's "very at peace with the timing of it and how it all played out."
Meri was Kody Brown's first wife. They were married in 1990 and then legally separated in 2014 but remained together. Janelle Brown was Kody's second wife, marrying him in 1993. They seemed to have separated in late 2020 and was confirmed in late 2022 that they are also no longer together. Christine became wife number three the next year in 1994. They split within the last year and Christine has since remarried. Finally, Robyn Brown married Kody in 2010, making her his fourth wife. She is also Kody's only remaining wife, though it has been rumored he is still interested in taking another.
Recently, on Sister Wives, Kody and Meri had a very tense and emotional anniversary dinner, with Kody telling Meri that he has "no desire" to be with her. In a confessional afterward, Meri recalled what Kody said to her during the awkward and uncomfortable dinner. "I have no desire, Meri, to have a relationship with you.' He said, 'Don't you understand, Meri? This is never going to happen. Your life is not one that I want to insert myself into.'" She then added, "I'll never forget those words. This is the first time he's ever said this to me. That was very, very painful for me. I felt my heart really speeding up because I'm like, but you promised."