'Alaskan Bush People' Star Shares Heartbreaking Update After Shocking Loss

Alaskan Bush People star Matt Brown shared a heartbreaking update on the baby birds he has been taking care of for the past few weeks. On Saturday, he revealed that the birds died after bring him "so much happiness" this summer. The Brown family has been through a difficult year since the death of the family patriarch, Billy Brown, in February.

At the start of his video Saturday, Brown, 37, said he attempted to film a statement on the situation several times. He spoke through tears, telling his fans that he was surprised so many were interested in constant updates on the birds' well-being. He hated to have to share the news of their death because he saw how much joy his followers got from the birds.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matt Brown (@mattbrown511)

"They passed away yesterday," Brown said. He left home to go to the store, and when he came back, the two surviving birds were both "sleepy," he explained. He could tell something was wrong, but it was not immediately clear what that was. Brown did as much as he could to comfort them, but they went to sleep and died. Brown said he could not share a video the day they died because he was so emotional and in tears, but he was clearly still shaken in Saturday's video.

"As an alcoholic and an addict, it is very important for me, when I feel strong emotions, to be able to be OK with it... because it has a swing to it," Brown explained. "I processed it so that I could tell you today because you loved them too... You deserve that. What's important, I figured out, is to realize that they were just little balls with heads when I found them and we gave them love and happiness."

Brown listed all the great things the baby birds experienced in their short lives. "They experienced a very good and loving, happy life," he said. "That's what I'd like to celebrate today, not by thinking about the sadness and by missing them, [but] by remembering that they touched our lives and made them more complete." Brown buried the birds with their siblings and said a prayer for them.

Brown's journey with his birds began a few months after his father, Billy, died on Feb. 7 after suffering a seizure at the family's Washington home. Billy was 68. Brown and his father had a difficult relationship, but the two reconciled before Billy's death. In April, Brown made headlines again when he accused Alaskan Bush People producers and his parents of keeping the money he earned from the show and criticized how he was portrayed on the show. Brown's younger brother Bear Brown later disputed these claims, calling it "heartbreaking" to see his older brother tell "such horrible lies" about their parents after Billy's death.