‘Sister Wives’ Husband Kody Brown Calls Meri’s Business Endeavor ‘Selfish’

Meri Brown’s bed and breakfast idea created more tension than excitement in the Sister Wives family, much to her surprise.

After meeting with husband Kody and her fellow sister wives over the finances needed to purchase the Utah home that would become her new bed and breakfast during the season premiere of the TLC show, Meri was shocked to hear that the money was not going to be available at the moment, and that her family wanted to be more involved in the business plan as equity profit partners.

“This is a four-against-one conversation. It completely is,” she explained. “They already made a decision … I’ve got my walls up. I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

Regardless of not being able to get the $40,000 she needed to buy the house at this moment, Meri was dedicated to buying the property right now, regardless of the business’ future.

“I need to tell you, I feel like you guys are saying, ‘Well, why can’t we be part of your business?’ Because this is something that I was just not understanding,” Meri tells the group, struggling not to cry. “This is all new to me so I’m just kind of doing what I can and trying to figure it out by myself.”

That kind of talk wasn’t making her family feel any better about the investment, however.

“I’ve struggled, personally, not to see it as sort of self-indulgent, that it’s never been about the family, it’s just been about Meri needing this house in her family,” Kody explained to the cameras. “It’s never been about how it could benefit our children.”

“The family’s always tried to be where we go one, we go all. Everybody is contributing, we contribute as a whole,” he continued. “I’ve always felt like we are all involved in bringing our efforts to the table to support the family.”

Later, after disagreeing about how Meri’s mother living in the bed and breakfast would affect the profit margins, Kody had to leave the room to cool off, saying there was too much “stupidity” in the room to continue talking.

No one left the meeting feeling good, with Meri saying she didn’t feel “hopeless,” but was struggling with “other thoughts and emotions” related to her family’s denial.

“We’re trying here, and frankly, I’ll be honest with you, because honestly, it seems a little selfish to me,” Kody explained. “I’m deeply bothered that this is all about Meri, and she can’t understand the needs of the rest of the family.”

Sister Wives airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.

Photo credit: TLC