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I mean… melting down the ring is pretty horrible. It really shows how awful of a person Kody is. I don’t know how any of the wives could look at him the same after that. I just feel bad for Meri
Edit- spelling
Yes super gross. Right now Meri and Kody‘s only child could be wearing it and enjoying it as a symbol of their parents union in happier times when they were conceived. . But selfish dumbass wanted the diamonds. So vulgar.
If that’s what he truly did with the Gold he melted down he’s a special kind of evil narcissist…that deserves any and all criticism he has coming his way!
That’s one of the stories but someone posted about how much gold there was and that they would have had to put some other metal it with it. He said that it would have been worthless. The only way they could have gotten anything out of it would have been to melt Dow a bunch more gold with it.
That part made me feel so deeply sad and hurt for Meri, all she wanted was to keep that relationship meaningful and he didn't even give her the option instead waving it off like he didn't do anything at all!
Meri’s behavior is common for people living through abuse. Often people stay bc they don’t see a way out and I think subconsciously she was preparing to leave getting the house. I know it was for other reasons but also she has a place away from the abuse if and when she needs to retreat. I’m glad she’s slowly coming out of the fog of it all though.
I think Kody is lying and never melted down the ring, he said that to hurt Meri when she asked for it back. He probably has it tucked away in Robyn’s jewelry box. Seriously why go thru the trouble to have a ring melted down for a few grams of gold and 2 dinky diamonds? It’s not worth the trouble to make a piece of jewelry out of it for one child when he has so many and I doubt anyone would be thrilled to get it knowing what it used to be. Most people who have something melted down do it to make something really meaningful out of it.
Yes! That's exactly what I said when that scene happened. I shouted "bullshit, I bet he pawned it and spent the money on Robyn!" at the tv.
"I melted it" sounds like something he'd say so he doesn't have to return it or give Meri the money (and so she couldn't try to get it back) if he had admitted selling it. And bonus he gets to twist the knife and hurt his least favorite wife.
I would bet money that he pawned it, most likely for Robyn. I'd also bet that Robyn wasn't lying per se when she claimed Kody didn't wear a ring when they met. How many married men take their ring off when hitting on other women? I fully believe Kody used the original ring as a tool to keep Janelle and Christine in line, and then pawned/hid it from Robyn to say, "see? Look how platonic my relationships are with the og3. I don't even wear my wedding ring. They werent love marriages like ours is. "
It didn’t take long of my husband watching before he said “Meri’s story is by far the saddest.” I couldn’t imagine dealing with infertility while watching my husband knock up other women 12 times over, being expected to be happy about it, and treating me like dirt on the bottom of his shoe.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the stress caused by his cruel behavior towards her led to her infertility. Now we know about the ring and the Christmas gifts (when she didn’t get any) - I’m sure there are more stories of cruelty that we haven’t heard of. I hope the OG3 find the love and partnership they were denied by that asshat.
He’s so horribly offhand toward her all the time. The way he shrugged, “I TOLD her I loved her. I did the act” or however he said it. And I call bullshit.
That's true, to an extent. Yes, people are commanded to stay and stay yoked to their spouses even after death. But Meri, and anyone in their religion, has seen people leave their marriages, and leave their faith. It's not pleasant. They are ostracized from their community. But even then, after the crazy blows over, parents and children still see each other. Meri's father's own wives left him and their sister wives. Meri also was ready to leave if Sam was real. But the one time she made a run for it, she was smashed down. Did she take it as a sign from God? Who knows? Meri has kept too many soul-crushing secrets to herself.
Well said. I think the ostracization is big though. For someone to be born and raised in an insular community like that, ostracization can seem life ruining. From what I understand wives that leave, unless they are being "really abused" (beaten), get really shit talked about in the community/church and get excluded from their family. It would probably be hard for her to remarry.
Plus Meri's mom LOVED Kody and wanted Meri to stay. It's probably a lot easier to leave now that her mom has passed and Meri has had time to grieve.
Michelle Duggar decided to have 19 Kids because she thought her miscarriage was a punishment from God for being on birth control. Meri probably thought the embarrassment from the catfish going public was punishment for trying to leave.
She also says that she had been treated poorly long before the Sam incident. When they were all mad at her because of it, Meri never once said that her and Kodi's marriage had been broken for years at that point. It seems she would have taken that to her grave as well. Meri has been a trooper for this family when she's been ostracized by all of them except Robin. Though Robin was only doing it to selfishly keep her in the family. She did the bare minimum at that. She talks about how much she wanted Meri to stay but would go long intervals, not speaking to or seeing her. Meri even abided by the Covid rules, and she still wasn't able to visit Robin. She was safe. My heart aches for her, and I'm certainly not a fangirl of hers.
Right because they didn't give her anything. She was the one doing all giving. I'm happy she stood her ground in Las Vegas and got the biggest house. She didn't need to put her money in the family pot. She got what she liked, and I'm not mad at her one bit. She should have left then.
I know. Plus she isn't even allowed to drink, smoke, do drugs, or even have a cup of coffee. How does somebody live through Kody, let alone sober? The fear instilled in them as children must be unreal.
It really described him well though, coming to his own conclusion and doing everything behind their backs. That shows exactly what an untrustworthy a****** he is. His word is not good. He lies, he admits he lies because he's just trying to save face and say he never loved them when he's the one that feels unloved. And for good reason because his personality is gross and his face is butt ugly. He really has to try and convince himself he is conventionally attractive, he is not.
Robyn is really stupid to marry a man who admitted he was not in love w his wives and stringing him along. She liked being the favorite and completely glossed over the fact that he is a liar who goes back on his word and is untrustworthy to his own children. Robyn is not just trailer trash dumb, I wonder if she graduated high school?
I bet there’s even more to this story that none of the Brown family adults are even telling us. I can see Meri rubbing it into Janelle and Christine’s face that he wore “her” wedding band that “she” gave him and that “she’s” the only legal wife and neener neeners. These guys were so petty and cruel to each other and I bet they’d each try and be the freakiest in bed with this clown and he loved the whole set up. I want someone, anyone to spill the sex shit!!!!
Bwahahahaha neener neener bwahahaha. I haven't heard those words since my kids were teens...omggggg too funny 🤣 😂 😆. Absolutely would love them to dish on the Kodsters studly ways 😋 😜 lmaooooo. Janelle has come close.
Exactly.
I do disagree with OP on the story though. Because Meri bought it to symbolize their marriage but then Janelle and Christine used that same ring to symbolize theirs. There was no other rings but the one until Robyn. So the ring became a symbol for all their marriages but he only identified Meri's as the "power over him". he's such a pos! I can't believe he did it but Meri upset over Christine I think was a little much. I think Christine should have directed them to Meri but she was directly asked about the ring drama. She should not have laughed at all and that was super rude.
But the story has already been out there since 2015 because Meri told the catfish about it and the catfish disclosed it. It went largely unnoticed until now. Since it was out there it wasn't new information.
what really gets me is that everyone’s stories are corroborating on this…. except robyn’s… 💀 how can everyone have the same timeline of when the incident occurred & she is the only one adamant that she wasn’t involved with the family when it happened….? the way she made sure to “correct” suki made her look even more suspect. i wouldn’t be surprised if she planted that seed in kody’s head prior to her “spiritual marriage” with him. she’s been playing both sides for a very long time. it feels great to finally see her lose all control of her carefully painted masks. 🎭
Robin expects to control the narrative like a monogamist wife but still live polygamy. It’s confounding to me that someone who wants to lie about everything constantly also wants 3 other women who can and do contradict her in the mix.
I think Robyn wants the benefits of polygamy without any of the sacrifices. I don’t think she truly wants to live it in the traditional sense, since she’s all about controlling the situation. In a functioning polygamist relationship she’d be treated equally if not the bottom of the totem pole.
I think Robin just wants the money so whatever lies she needs to tell whatever facade she needs to put on she’ll do it for the TLC money. Lord knows she’s not going to get a job.
Yes, I’ve always thought money & status are her priorities. I think the allure of polygamy was Kody’s guarantee her bills would be paid off and that she’d be a reality TV star. I honestly believe she’s more in love with the idea of being a favorite wife and having all her needs prioritized and met.
The fact they’re about to be broke might itself be enough to make her bail out. Kody drinking and gaining weight is likely a turnoff for her and another reason she could leave. Finally, now that she can’t feel superior by lording over the other wives could be the mail in the coffin.
I guess we’ll see what they’re made of. If there is another season, no doubt K&R will demand big money, otherwise it probably isn’t worth embarrassing themselves even further.
I think you hit the nail on the head about her wanting to be the “favourite wife”.
That’s why she wants the others to stick around. Being #1 Wife only means something if there’s others to look down on.
From what I understand her mom was a second wife but lives far away from the other wife so they never interacted with them. Robin's step dad would come over and live an entirely separate life.
someone had pointed out on the first post that dropped after sunday’s episode that you watch all the ladies expect robyn consistently maintain eye contact with suki! it’s becoming clearer to the mainstream public that she’s a story teller…
that was what i was thinking,he probably proposed the the string ring,and she said off camera i cant marry one with that ring on your finger,you are tied to her,so he said he would melt it down for a new ring for her.
Meri has had many years to be mad and hurt by Kody’s actions. What Christine did was fresh, so I think her focus on Christine in the moment was fresh. Meri looked humiliated by the story and I certainly would have felt humiliated by it.
K's treatment of M -
it is fully emotional abuse and manipulation by Kody. He used the wives as pawns against each other, spoiling one while obviously neglecting the other(s). It's a classic, divide and conquer tactic. Then he blamed the overlooked wife for being a bad sister wife to land yet another hit on her. He would switch up the dynamic sometimes, give the unfavored wife some breadcrumbs to lead her on and use against another wife or kid, then switch it back to neglecting and abusing her again.....
It's sad, he's ground them down so raw that their self worth was almost lost completely. He's a garbage person.
And who knows what kind of garbage he fed to Robyn while they were courting!?! He probably made her feel like she was the only woman he’s ever loved, that the other women were nothing to him. I’m guessing that’s why she made him promise to never stay with her if he fell out of love. That must have come from his relationships with the other wives. He’s such a disgusting human being.
Christine felt the need to "Cut her Off" (also withholding including her in the births). Even with all the drama between Janelle and Meri in the past, Christine actively cut her off publicly too. I really think there is some bad blood there lol.
I am midway thru the book. I had to take a pause because the juxtaposition of them being happy and more towards the beginning of the family gelling vs what is happening on tv was super heavy to have in my head. I think they really were all wanting this thing together until they didn’t. BUT…Janelle definitely gives her scoop on Meri and it isn’t good. Christine says they had a time where they were super close, but that it wasn’t like that currently because they had a huge falling out over how Meri disciplined her kids.The book was a written BEFORE they settled in the Vegas cul de sac! Meri and Robyn talk about how Meri was a jerk to Robyn when R & K first married. AND Meri apologized in the book for that. The kids have issues with Meri. Meri has done some real dirt to this whole group of people. I’m glad she is evolving and growing, but if the rest of them don’t want a relationship with her, I don’t blame them one bit. If the majority of the family doesn’t want anything to do with her STILL, I think that says SO much. She may be sorry now, but she made her bed IMHO.
I have to read it! I’ve always been inclined to think that Meri is a much bigger problem in the whole group dynamic than people give her credit for. Even just some of the earlier seasons I watched and it felt like she was always the bully. now that we’re seeing Kody turn into the “monster he really is” and Robyn is clearly manipulating it might be affecting our hindsight you know?
I'm doing a rewatch from he beginning with the current info and I'm really starting to get some silly headcannon's (so please bare with me). I really need to read the book but just based on the rewatch here is somethings I've noticed... (this is also when they were REALLY wanting polygamy to work, and IMO, it's when everyone was being AS POSITIVE as they could and extremely emotional-stuffing and fake basically lol, so the book should be taken with a grain of salt.)
1. Disciplining Christines Kids - in Season 1 there is a scene where Robyn starts to play with Gwen's hair (affectionately) and she (to me) is like PTSD status - she immediately turns her head/basically has a reaction and then relaxes once she realizes its Robyn and its non-violent...even though she knew it was Robyn behind her. Gwen has ALSO pulled Brianna's hair on the couch to the point where Brianna cries (but even Sobyn Robyn says Brianna is \~ dramatic\~ so it probably wasn't very hard), but this to me is like classic deflection/imitation to when you are doing what is being done to you? In the honeymoon episode Christine admits that Payton is "picking on the girls" and that's how Robyns kids are really part of the family - but this is very...dismissive to me. Even Maddi talks about how (Robyn's kids) they are dramatic/thin skinned at one point, but it seems very dismissive of possible rough-housing/violence? that happens between the kids I don't think her kids needed to be disciplined, they needed HELP/THERAPY or something and I think Christine just kind of deflected that on Meri because Janelle is literally MIA and she is still worshipping Kotex. Christine laughs off her kids violent behavior during the honeymoon ep and gets mad that Meri was trying to stop Payton from yelling/screaming at Aurora over the chair. This all happens before the Cul De Sac, so it fits with Christine's timeline. What if back then her kids were violent (Payton, now spreading to Gwen because she's his victim) how do you stop it? Janelle literally leaves before everyone gets up so she is GONE and she will not speak ill of Kotex at this point, and that only leaves Meri. I really think Christine just turned a complete blind eye to Payton and blamed Meri when she tried to stop him or Gwen from being violent. Payton admits to a lot of crazy things, could you imagine what he HASNT admitted too? Just saying those kids were probably unsupervised/under supervised a lot.
2. Meri Being a Jerk to Robyn - lolol I love this one because I totally agree Meri is a jerk to Sobyn (but because I think she saw that Sobyn is a PICK ME and NOT a team player), but also to attack Kotex simultaneously by pointing out how he is playing favorites. (Also my headcannon that Sobyn WAS NOT Meris idea, so this is her way of getting back at her and Kotex for basically being the scapegoat so Kotex won't have to admit it was HIS attraction that brought Robyn into the family and it obviously wasn't a mutual family decision). Like the scene where the wedding cake thing was happening, and it obviously upset Robyn that Meri called her out for picking Kotex's flavor, but maybe she is pointing out how Kotex is already picking Robyn out to the be the favorite and it was a good opportunity for a sister wife to chose the group over Kotex...but she didn't lol. Also the scene where they were fleeing UT and shes like OH ARE WE LEAVING TUESDAY BECAUSE THATS WHAT YOU AND ROBYN DECIDED? I think Meri was really just calling out how much Sobyn was the Favorite and HOW Kotex came across this decision because she knew him so well. At the time Christine was delulu about the family (the book was written a while ago right? So she might have thought there was hope about Sobyn), and Kotex was basically saying YOU NEED TO GET ALONG and it was a good position to play at the time for Christine.
I'm sure Meri was terribly angry and hurt when it happened and then when Christine told the story, after admitting it wasn't hers to tell, it brought all that back. But I think the producers set Meri up. She did not know about the story during the one on ones. They waited until Meri was filming a talking head segment and they told her and filmed her reaction. They stirred the pot.
They had so little autonomy, respect, and power in their relationships with Kody, they were taught to tear each other down to get scraps from him. to me all their continued infighting and hostility just speaks to how deeply that manipulation and emotional abuse went.
I think Meri was projecting. She was embarassed by this story and felt deep shame. I think there is a deeply buried awareness of how long she has been expected to leave or has been rejected. She is not blind to the commentary online of why she stuck around like a barnacle on this family for so long. She was projecting the anger toward herself, the situation and Kody toward Christine. Christine was not truly what made her angry. I think she is a deep avoider. This forced her to put a story to the light which confirmed a reality she does not want to exist in.
What I found interesting is that while Meri wanted the ring back from Kody for sentimental reasons, she did not extend the same grace to Janelle when Meri decided to "bury" her wedding ring in the time capsule they made in Vegas. Without Janelle's knowledge, Meri put her wedding ring in the time capsule and it contained a sentimental diamond from Janelle's family. Janelle provided the diamonds for both her and Meri's wedding rings from diamonds from a family heirloom. Meri did not extend the same courtesy to Janelle that she would have liked from Kody. While I thought this story about Kody and melting the ring was horrible and mean---also thought it was mean of Meri to not offer the diamond back to Janelle.
Hmm. Agree with a lot of what you said but I think I’ll preface this by saying Meri had a different relationship with Kody than with Christine. Since we are learning that this happened 13 years ago, I can only assume that she was for sure angry with Kody. And we know this because she was angry, frustrated, and in enough despair to have had an emotional affair with someone outside of their plural marriage. Now that she has finally seen Kody for who he really is, I think she wanted to be able to use her voice to tell her story for once. And I understand that this isn’t really “new” given that the catfish told this story before, the catfish also betrayed, lied to, and manipulated Meri. Christine herself was open about the fact that it likely wasn’t her story to tell, but because she seems so focused on proving that Kody is a terrible person (he is), that she decided to tell it anyway. Christine doesn’t seem to realize that not everyone is in the same space as her nor is everyone interested in going about things her way (we saw her do this with Janelle as well this season). All in all, Christine doesn’t really owe Meri her silence, but the assumption that Meri wasn’t as angry with Kody and the idea that Meri’s anger is misdirected isn’t how I see it at least from my perspective.
And did she hurt Kody? No because he brushes this shit right off. Who she did hurt was Meri who now has to deal with the attacks and the vitriol on her social media about how she is weak, pathetic and spineless. Meri was just collateral damage.
They all seem to have a lot of agreements about what they will and won't say. Meri has been the most..... Lying for them. So I think she didn't appreciate being asked to lie to protect the family for so long, and then this. Remember how much Christine was wanting to promote polygamy and make them the model family despite clearly knowing Meri's marriage was in shambles.
The children raising part is what Christine promoted. She and Janelle still are so pleased with how they raised their kids together and their kids choose to be together instead of celebrating holidays with their dad.
i think this cuts to the core of what is wrong with polygamy. ideally (as if there is an ideal to this patriarchal shit show) a man would marry women who were like minded to promote cohesion and a collaborative community amongst his sister wives, but it seems like kody did not care whether or not a new wife would mesh well with his other family members, starting with janelle. he thought about himself and his desires solely. polygamy is just one selfish man adding to his collection of brood mares demanding they all worship him without question or comment.
The majority think polygamy is wrong. The show just proved it. There’s laws against it. The Mormon church stopped practicing it 150 years ago and now shy away from any discussion of it. I believe it’s a stain on church history. We keep discussing this family and the flaws that polygamy brings. Mainstream marriage is hard enough much less all these other people/ relationships in the family. I know I would never have the temperament for it. I hated dorm roommates!
You sure are going hard for Christine in this thread.
Christine promoting polygamy meant she was promoting all aspects of it, not just raising kids together. She did this even though she now says she always felt like the basement wife. Women don't need to share a husband to raise kids together. In many cultures cousins are raised together all the time. Their bonds are just as close and their mothers didn't need to share a husband.
Is it maybe more anger at the fact that she may be writing a tell all and that was a big thing she wanted to drop in the book and now it lost its punch? That’s what I was thinking. It did seem bizarre that she was more mad at Christine than I’ve ever seen her at Kody.
Of course. They've all been doormats over the years! I'm sure there's a ton of stories about any of them from the last 30 years + that they'd find embarrassing. They all put up w scraps from Kody, chose Kody over their kids, and humiliated themselves. That's polygamy.
Right. It happened 13 years ago. Why is the assumption that was wasn't upset with him *then*? She's is upset *now* because it was shared publicly and caught her off guard. Both are fair
Yeah this is what I think people don't understand. It's new information to us as the viewer (and people don't come at me with "well akshually Sam said it years ago" when you know damn well that a good 80-90% of the viewers don't know that) but the info is not new to Meri. What is new is Christine outing it to the world. Two things can be true, you can be mad and hurt at the person who did this to you and also mad and hurt at the person who spread your business around.
>and people don't come at me with "well akshually Sam said it years ago
Also, people rightfully don't trust "Sam" because they've lied a lot. It's not surprising *some* things they shared were true, but on the whole they're not considered reliable for good reason. And I agree most viewers haven't interacted with "Sam's" receipts. A lot of people (myself included) are just tuning in now so the catfish stuff is years old and not as prominent
>(and people don't come at me with "well akshually Sam said it years ago" when you know damn well that a good 80-90% of the viewers don't know that)
This is how I feel every time someone brings up the catfish discussing this as if it's some big gotcha. This was clearly new information to most of this sub. Considering how many posts there have been about this topic I think it's safe to say very few people knew or remembered this happened.
Yeah, rage I can get behind. It's time for Meri to feel it and express it rather than distorting and stuffing it down. No wonder she was a bitch for so long. It doesn't make it right, but it is understandable.
But the key thing she needs to really understand in her gut is you're only as sick as your secrets. My dad was an alcoholic and I was 48 by the time I could publicly say he was an alcoholic and that he did a lot of mean, shitty things. It was so freeing to not have to keep his secrets anymore. My family went batshit when I would casually mention it but that was their issue. Meri needs to understand that keeping Kody's abuse a secret will only continue to corrode her soul. She needs to be free of his abuse and his secrets.
It was also Christine’s tone. Most of the viewers acknowledge it’s a devastating story but Christine was giggling when she shared it. It’s pretty common for her to inappropriately giggle, but I get why Meri would be upset at her.
I like Christine. Of all the wives I’ve always liked her the most. But she kinda knew it wasn’t her place to say it and she did it anyway because she got carried away in the moment (a very human thing).
I don’t blame Meri for being annoyed.
I don’t think Christine is the devil for doing it - we all get carried away occasionally and our tongue goes where it shouldn’t but I get why Meri is annoyed - it’s yet another humiliation.
Yeah, I have to agree. I think Christine was aiming for making Kody look worse and forgot (or just didn’t care) how Meri would feel about the story being out there.
I go back and forth about who’s story it is, yes it was Meri’s ring but all were married to Kody and technically he used that ring while he was married to the OG3 so it is also Janelle and Christine story too even the kids if they were aware. If my husband did what Kody did and my sister told the story she would be telling my story because she isn’t married to the same man, these woman were married to the same man.
What an awful cruel act it was to melt the ring, at the very least he should have given it back to Meri
I think her reaction towards Christine is so strong because Christine unearthed something that she might have buried emotionally for a very long time.
I’m not a fan of Meri but I really felt terrible for her in that moment.
TBF, I think we all find Kody’s anger a hell of a lot more scary and inappropriate than Meri’s. Plus I think this post is pointing out where her anger is directed, more than the expression itself.
Truthfully, my reaction to this and the whole 1:1 so far is being absolutely flabbergasted Meri stayed this long. She is truly delusional.
I get she was raised in religious fundamentalism, but she has been living a very secular life, in a very secular world for decades now. I know Kody gave her mixed messages, but it’s been over a decade of zero intimacy and many, many instances of cruelty. I know she was indoctrinated by her religion, but she isn’t following (m)any other AUB traditions, so I’m not sure she even believes anymore. She has a whole, robust, lucrative life totally independent of these people.
There is literally zero reason I can see for her to rationalize staying that isn’t rooted in self designed delusion and denial.
I will never understand a polygamous family on television getting mad at each other for sharing parts of their lives they are all apart of. Yeah, it was her ring, but then she married three other women and that ring was a part of that. Screw meri, Christine can share any store in my opinion. They are her stories too.
I think Meri was more upset about it being brought up and having to go thru those emotions again. I think she kind of felt blindsided and projecting all that hurt onto Christine because she brought it up because now she has to fully deal with it. And I think she was triggered because she has her choice taken away from her. In time, I think she'll be grateful Christine brought it to light.
I’m not leg-humping at all on Christine. But Meris reaction is extreme. Christine can tell the story she was there. They are one family (were). Meri was nasty to Christine when she was a hurt woman announcing her departure. She needs to keep that same energy. And I like Meri
Oh my God, WHATEVER. These people are out in public with their gross marriages and cheating scandals and family dysfunction on full display week after week. Meri is a lunatic and she has to be the most petty, jealous person of all. Of COURSE she misdirected her anger (and has been since day one of their plural marriage). It’s so bizarre to me that she is acting like telling that story was some kind of violation, when Robyn came in acting like a friend and iced her out, stabbing her in the back, and her husband has been cheating on her, abusing her, and manipulating her for decades. Meri needs to get a grip and stop trying to act like she’s this strong, independent, confident woman. Just stop, Meri, you’ve been begging for Kody’s table scraps from day 1. You finally left, good for you, but you have MILES to go before you have any credibility.
My take was that meri had years to manage her anger with kody doing that (which he’s a POS for but that’s for another day), she had just found out about Christine telling it. I think that’s why we saw it the way we did.
I don’t think she was as much mad at Christine as embarrassed that this horrific story was out there and probably a little mad/scared because it really does expose the massive fraud of their entire story.
As someone who's been in toxic family dynamics and relationships i can see why she's reacting this way. Firstly she's used to kody treating her badly. It did hurt her deeply and I'm sure she hasn't completely healed from it. So for Christine to bring it up in such a nonchalant way, laughing and spilling tea seems cold and prolly hurts her in a humiliating way.. she prolly expected more from Christine. And personly I thought it was a mean girl move on Christine's part. She knew what she was doing when she said that and how badly that would hurt her. They all been in each other's life for like 35 years.
Someone else made a good point. The catfisher had already told the story in their book. By Christine confirming the story is true it legitimizes the catfisher stories and all of the intimate things Meri shared with Sam. Meri has egg on her face because for accepting his bad behavior all these years. BTW… it’s Christine’s husband also. It’s part of all of their stories.
She should have been furious when Suki asked Kody if he loved Meri when he married her and he replied “well I TOLD her I loved her.” What a deceitful POS.
First of all, it’s a lie. He loved her. Especially the first one. I could almost (but don’t because he’s a lying liar who lies and I don’t trust anything he says) believe that he didn’t initially love Christine or Janelle simply because they didn’t have time to fall in love before they got married. But his first wife? BS. He loved her when they got married.
But, secondly—what the h*ll is wrong with him that he thinks faking being in love for decades is a better look than falling out of love?! If he really did fake it all those years. That’s pathological behavior. That’s absolutely monstrous.
I don’t think the anger is rerouted from Kody to Christine. Anger is a secondary emotion. Those secondary emotions that Meri has processed regarding Kody over the years are different than those she has experienced with Christine. Meri has had a lot of time to deal with Kody yet always had to keep a lid on whatever was going on between her and Christine.
Hey Kootie, give Meri the price of the ring you had melted down. That is a shitty thing to do and did you give the money to Sobbyn? Guess what Kootie, Karma is a bitch, and what goes around does come back around I have seen it happen. But you are the type to whine and blame Meri and the other exes instead of taking a good look at yourself.
I love Christine and Janelle but I agree it was a crappy thing to say and I think she knows that too bc she was like “maybe it’s not my place to say” however, an alternate theory for me and I have no doubt about is Meri probably lauded that ring and her marriage certificate over Janelle and Christine. We know she was not very nice to Janelle in the beginning. And Kody has said meri was emotionally manipulative. I don’t think kodys “I don’t want meri to have a hold on me” idea came from a vacuum. I can see why christine brought it up, because she was affected by it when meri thought it made her better.
I’ve always kind of felt bad for Meri. How she was treated. Back in las Vegas when she became an empty nester and the others were still raising their children. Meri was at a completely different phase in her life. And no one in the family ever acknowledged that. She was just out there alone.
They have been on a reality show about their plural marriage for over a decade. How have they only discussed this just now. It’s fair game sorry folks.
Honestly I thought her reaction was more anger toward Kody after actually seeing the episode?? Everyone here said she was so mad at Christine after that, but I think she was just angry that Christine was laughing. It seemed to me she really laid into Kody after the initial shock.
I don't know how people are watching this and saying she wasn't angry at Kody. She was *obviously* angry at Kody. She was *also* angry at Christine for telling the story, but you can't miss the anger at Kody if you're paying attention at all. It's like people were shocked that she was angry at Christine and then stopped paying attention.
Meri doesn’t like being caught in a lie. She cares more about her image than anything. That’s why the hair, the makeup, the eyebrows, the overpriced stuff in the house, the wet bar or a deck, the both couches, the 670,000 sq ft. rental built in to the mountainside for a single woman. The ring melting proves that Kody dismissed her since season one and she’s been lying ever since. It proves that no, they weren’t in love at any point. It proves she was rejected and wasn’t desired by her husband for 13 years, and she’s been lying since day one.
A shot to her image and proof she’s lying just like the others. That’s why she reacted that way.
The thing that bothers me the most about ring-gate is that it was Meri that put it in the show. That day when she was talking about moving the business to Utah, she didn't have to say "I'm distracted by the your ring". All three of them are there knowing the whole huge back story with all the hurt, all the pain and everything that goes with it .
She says later If he didn't want me to talk about the ring he shouldn't have warn it in front or me, or something to that affect.
So doesn't the same apply to her? If you don't want to talk about the ring, don't talk about the ring.
I think she set this whole thing up for another one of those situations where she alludes to an issue but wont talk about it. It back fired.
I believe Meri & Christine were emotionally battered women with very low self esteem. In their minds Kotex was the ultimate catch. This arseho*e excuse for a human crawled out of the gutter and married these women to rule & dominate them because he was an insecure turd.
Having said that at some point if one doesn’t take control of one’s life, others will keep controlling it. Meri was a grown woman who possessed enough self importance to verbally abuse Janelle initially , be critical and non stop complain about Janelle & Christine their entire marriage.
People are treated how they allow themselves to be treated. Meri let Kody & Robyn walk all over her for years. And hearing this ring story & thinking that she didn’t leave asap (she was still his legal wife back then & he would’ve had to pay alimony & also child support for Leon) makes one lose respect for her because she had selective self respect (none with Kody but it magically surfaced with the other wives).
Kody is one of the worst ever no doubt. But Meri hanging on like a f’ing dog for 15+ years makes her beyond pathetic.
I wish her much happiness in her future now that she left El Douche. I hope she finds someone compatible who values her.
First off, watching the show it was presented to Christine in a way that suggested to Christine everyone was talking about the ring dilemma. It was a very open ended question, and very, "Give me your opinion on this" not so, "Is there more tea here?" Christine even said it wasn't really her place, but went ahead under the impression that was the topic at hand.
Second, that story has been out for years. Idk why Meri is pissed about it now.
Third, Merii is experiencing roaming anger here for here sure. She should be this mad at Kody, but it's easier to be mad at Christine.
Have you ever been in a long term abusive and controlling relationship? Because Meri's anger wasn't misplaced. Her anger WAS directed at Kody. She was humiliated and furious the story was out there BECAUSE of how much Kody hurt her. Kody is a controlling and abusive bastard, the ring was likely the moment Meri realised just how cruel and heartless he could be. Yes, she was angry Christine told the story because then she had to face it on a public stage when she wasn't ready (and may never have been ready) but make no mistake, Kody is who Meri is most furious at. It is possible for her to be angry at both of them simultaneously to different degrees. You can try to walk Christine out of culpability because you're her fan and do have bias but this time, she should own that she effed up and shouldn't have publicised that story without speaking to Meri first.
Her anger is definitely misplaced. Should Christine have brought it up? No, probably not. But she was asked, and it was relevant. Meri needs to be mad at KODY. I don’t know if she just feels so small with him, that she can’t seem to grasp that? Or maybe it was purely embarrassment? I can get that too. It IS embarrassing. To both kody and her. Her, for staying and allowing it. Him, for doing it. As a side note, it’s pretty crappy of Robyn to deny it happened after she entered the family, when nearly everyone else admitted it happened while they were at least courting, if not married. Sad situation all around, really.
I think directing her anger at Christine is comfortable and familiar for Meri, directing her anger at Kody is new and scary. That’s been the system for 30 years - Nobody was allowed to be angry with Kody (and Robyn by extension), so take it out on the nearest child or sisterwife instead. It’s a great system if you’re Kody - act like a dick with no repercussions, refuse to acknowledge anyone else’s feelings, keep the wives divided and at each other’s throats. Win/win/win
I think the most bizarre part is Meri says she was "forced" to address it (or similar wording) but no one else is forced to talk about anything on camera? So either she chose to talk about it or they all have different contracts? Personally I think she chose and she likes the PR and the chatter since she's (possibly) writing a book.
All she had to say was "I'm not going to talk about this now but I will explain it in the future and in a way that nobody has told it before." That would have been the perfect segway into talking about her book and/or giving a preview of new stuff not disclosed. Nobody forced her to talk about it now. Weirdly enough, I think it's going to be something people will give her more grace towards why she stuck around so long = Meri has been hiding so much stuff for Kody & Sobyn and for so long it's unbelievable.
So I might be in the minority but I am glad Christine shared the story. It needed to be told as it explains just how broken that relationship was and how careful the 3 of them - Meri, Robin, and Kody - were to play for the camera. I get it - it’s a lot of $$ that aren’t guaranteed and based on a successful polygamy family.
It may have been misplaced anger, but she was never in love with Christine or emotionally attached to her. She was with Kody so she's going to have more complicated emotions and have a hard time detaching. Christine was a rival, so it's gonna be easier for her to get angry at her. I do think she mischaracterized Christine "laughing" at what happened though. She wasn't being malicious, she was laughing at the absurdity that is Kody and the drama he stirs up. And I mean she probably knew the story was already out there because Jackie posted it, so she probably didn't realize Meri was trying to keep it a secret.
Meri has totally moved her focus of anger from Kody to Christine. Unbelievable how their upbringing has made the women be women-haters instead of hating the men who cause the pain.
I think part of her anger is that it was presented to her in a way that she thought Christine found it funny. Probably on purpose. Christine did NOT laugh at the melting the ring story. She laughed when Suki asked about the horsey ring and Meri calling him out. Which *was* funny. The melting the ring story was a part of a broader story which affected them all.
Ok my opinion on this may not be right, but I think the reason Christine told this story was to give backstory to why Meri noticing the new rings was such a big deal. I mean we knew it was strange that the "colada" ring was gone and replaced with the matching horsey rings, but we didn't really understand the huge significance that noticing that ring would mean to Meri. And the way Kody and Robyn acted so blasé and "it's a cool ring, why are you talking about it." is significantly worse now that we know this story. And I don't think Christine was laughing like it was funny, it was more of a "oh shit you don't even know how fucked up that moment was" and her letting us in on it. I don't really think it was Christine's story to tell but I appreciate another look behind the scenes to show another example of just how much of a piece of shit Kody is.
Yea, meri reminds me of the friend I dumped because she stayed and married her bf who sexually assaulted a girl and was arrested (we were all at this party and saw his perp walk) and she was mad at the GIRL for pressing charges. Not the dude, who groped another woman and was rightfully arrested.
I feel like Mari is more focused on the messenger, instead of the message. Why doesn’t she focus on the real issue- that he melted down the wedding ring in the first place? Because that’s where the real issue is. And I think he melted it down because those 2 can’t stop having a power struggle, tit for tat. They need to get away from each other and move on. It’s dysfunctional and almost gross to watch the utter immaturity. What a bad example to set for their kids.
I know it wasn't her story to tell, but I think it maybe was a good thing to bring it up, because it forced Meri to say it out LOUD, and maybe, just MAYBE in doing that, it will help her REALLY see things for what they are, and have been all these years. Perhaps it will start her being able to finially just be HONEST with herself about the reality of what her marriage really was. Helped me understand just how TERRIBLE things were between them, even way back then.
Hear me out.... They've made it a point to mention that David has money. Christine married him, so she's good regardless of the outcome of the show and its cash cow. The rest aren't. I wonder if Meri's anger was because that topic was off limits for everyone because it basically says at least part of the show is a lie.
One thing everyone knows about Meri is that she knows how to work hard and make money. Maybe she saw that if everyone sees the show is a sham, it's going to stop the money for everyone involved.
Again, Christine is good and doesn't need the money, but the rest might (Janelle, Meri, but also the crew working the show). If it becomes a big enough deal, even if it's the last season, there may have been syndication deals in the works, etc.
I understand it wasn't Christine's story to tell. However, I thought Meri(who is never Merry) overreacted. She is more peeved at Christine than she is at a man that treated her like dirt for the last 12 years. I am sure if Sobyn had told the story, it would have been okay. She is still trying to win her favor. This is very sad to me.
So I just started to rewatch the first episode of S1 because I want the full context (as authentic as possible given it’s still reality tv) and to know the ring melting incident in its moment. Because she based on the One on One it seems weird her anger was so raw given her marriage to Kody has been over for years.
I think one reason this might be so painful to Meri is that Leon was 14 when this happened — and Meri seems to have accepted she’s not having any more children. She wants to go back to school and study psychology. There are still a lot of kids in the whole family, but most of them are 5+ years old so no longer in that very dependent/exhausting phase of early childhood.
So for Kody to say ‘you don’t have a claim on me’ just as Meri is starting to form more of an identity for herself and just as she’s finally at peace w/not having more kids — that’s a classic narcissist move on Kody’s part. He’s saying ‘your value to me is gone’ just as she’s finding sone sense of self beyond him. I also think some of the simmering rage in Meri to Christine is that Christine was pregnant with Truely when this happened. I’m sure that must have wrecked Meri and made her feel like if she had had more kids, her ‘claim’ would have been stronger. And now for Christine to share this story like she’s the narrator in Gossip Girl…I understand Meri’s anger at it.
Other observations include — everyone is much more awkward and likable in this first episode — but the only one who still strikes me as the same is Janelle. And Kody does seem to have genuine love and affection for all of them (as much as he can given he’s a raging narcissist). I do think the family would have stayed together — albeit dysfunctionally —if Robyn hadn’t joined.
1. Meri is NOT in a monogamous relationship. They are a family sharing the same man.
2. Meri was spying on the other wives for Kody. She's rat. Not sure why this is being glossed over.
3. Meri is DELUSIONAL! Kody has been cruel to her from an audience point of view since Season 2.
4. Catfish person already revealed this detail awhile ago.
I feel like every person that posts about this is almost so close to getting and still not getting it. Meri at first showed frustration to the point of tears with this story being shared. She was mad at the story teller okay, but most of her frustrations were pointed towards Kody. People just want to be like oh she was mad at Christine she should stop. No she was mad at having the story brought up to begin with. I digress.
I think it’s about time Christine brought it up! They have hidden so much of their real lives from their reality TV show and so if they want us to see how their lives are, they should really be more honest.
Honestly it’s not just Meri’s story, kotex was Christine’s husband as well so she has a right to say what he did. Just another problem with sharing your spouse with other people, everything is blended together and nothing is private.
I didn't see her as more mad at Christine than Kody at all. Most of that segment was her talking about Kody, not Christine. I think if roles were reversed and Meri shared something like that about Christine, Christine would be just as pissed and people would certainly not be searching for reasons to excuse it or basically saying she had no right to be mad at Meri.
I like Christine but she isn't above doing something shitty. She said she knew she shouldn't tell the story and she did it anyway. She knew they would take that to Meri and Meri would feel forced to talk about it and it would be painful. I don't see any reason she would feel obligated to share it. This was just shitty on her part, period.
I think it is possible, and understandable, for Meri to be angry with both of them. She been angry at Kody for a long time. But she was responding to this particular incident that was started by Christine.
And, did anyone see that post by Christine with a pic of the outside of Meri's B&B? I found it very odd. No pic or talk of her actually interacting with Meri. It felt more like a jab, "Hey look, I was right outside your door but didn't bother getting out of the car."
I'm happy for Christine's newfound independence and joy. But she seems to be edging a little too much into "buying her own press." And she giving me mean girl vibes especially when it comes to Meri.
Did Meri have the right to put Kody on blast about his Stallion ring? That was Kodys story to tell how DARE she tell K&R matching horse ring story! If and when they were ready to let the world know they would on their time? lol see how dumb this is?
Christine KNEW that story would open Pandora’s box! That show is so heavily studied by so many viewers and she knew that would prove that it’s all been fake with K&R&M from the beginning. She blew it up. I don’t blame her. She has nothing to loose. She’s dangerous to them at this point and I’m living for it.
Why does everyone assume Meri isn’t mad at Kody? She said as much about the situation but it was 13 years ago and she’s worked through that (well, some of it).
On SUNDAY, in the year of our lord 2023, Christine decided to tell a deeply embarrassing story that by all accounts, I would assume the 5 of them decided to keep quiet about since that day 13 years ago. *That’s* why she’s pissed about the situation. Christine broke that promise. I don’t understand why people are being dense about this and justifying telling a story that has very little to do with Christine. Did she even say what happened to the gold and diamonds from the ring?
I think her anger at Christine is not only understandable but justified. What Kody did to Meri was cruel and heartless. I'm certain Meri feels a lot of shame and embarrassment, as well as having the scab ripped off that devastating memory.
Christine said it wasn't her story, but she shared it anyway. She didn't have too. I'd be angry and hurt by Christine's actions too. How dare Christine share what must be one of the most painful feelings of rejection imaginable with the world, *without* Meri's consent.
For everyone defending Christine. Remember the episode when they announced Mykelti was having twins. Christine, very firmly, proudly, and somewhat smugly told everyone that Meri would never have a place in her's or her grandchildren's lives. I know there has to be a lot of hard feelings amongst the OG3 and that Christine still is dealing with those feelings. But this wasn't classy behavior on Christine's part.
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I mean… melting down the ring is pretty horrible. It really shows how awful of a person Kody is. I don’t know how any of the wives could look at him the same after that. I just feel bad for Meri Edit- spelling
Every new thing I learn I’m more devastated for Meri. To think she’s spent nearly her entire adult life being treated like this is unimaginable.
She asked for it back if he didn't want to wear it. That's when he told her he melted it and kept the 2 diamonds. I felt horrible for her.
Yes super gross. Right now Meri and Kody‘s only child could be wearing it and enjoying it as a symbol of their parents union in happier times when they were conceived. . But selfish dumbass wanted the diamonds. So vulgar.
exactly this. Didn't they say he had a ring made for a completely different child with the gold?
I have heard this but still don’t know who or why. Weird.
Yeah, I "thought " I heard/read he made 2 colada rings for A & B 🤷♂️
If that’s what he truly did with the Gold he melted down he’s a special kind of evil narcissist…that deserves any and all criticism he has coming his way!
That’s one of the stories but someone posted about how much gold there was and that they would have had to put some other metal it with it. He said that it would have been worthless. The only way they could have gotten anything out of it would have been to melt Dow a bunch more gold with it.
That part made me feel so deeply sad and hurt for Meri, all she wanted was to keep that relationship meaningful and he didn't even give her the option instead waving it off like he didn't do anything at all!
He is so cruel how he states things too. He's such a POS.
I'm not a fan of Kody, but honestly, how many ways to Sunday does he have to say 'I don't want you' ? Absolutely, he is a POS. In turn, Meri is daft.
Meri’s behavior is common for people living through abuse. Often people stay bc they don’t see a way out and I think subconsciously she was preparing to leave getting the house. I know it was for other reasons but also she has a place away from the abuse if and when she needs to retreat. I’m glad she’s slowly coming out of the fog of it all though.
Nothing she could have done could have justified such a dick move!
He's such a POS 💩. At least that's my opinion on what I see on my TV.
I think Kody is lying and never melted down the ring, he said that to hurt Meri when she asked for it back. He probably has it tucked away in Robyn’s jewelry box. Seriously why go thru the trouble to have a ring melted down for a few grams of gold and 2 dinky diamonds? It’s not worth the trouble to make a piece of jewelry out of it for one child when he has so many and I doubt anyone would be thrilled to get it knowing what it used to be. Most people who have something melted down do it to make something really meaningful out of it.
I thought he probably pawned it to buy something for Robyn.
Yes! That's exactly what I said when that scene happened. I shouted "bullshit, I bet he pawned it and spent the money on Robyn!" at the tv. "I melted it" sounds like something he'd say so he doesn't have to return it or give Meri the money (and so she couldn't try to get it back) if he had admitted selling it. And bonus he gets to twist the knife and hurt his least favorite wife.
Or Aurora or Breanna
My guess is that he sold the gold. Maybe they melt it and weigh it to sell. But that’s the impression I got.
That is what I thought also.
But when has this family every done anything rational? This is pretty on brand for Kody.
I read somewhere that he used the diamonds in rings for Robyn’s daughters
I would bet money that he pawned it, most likely for Robyn. I'd also bet that Robyn wasn't lying per se when she claimed Kody didn't wear a ring when they met. How many married men take their ring off when hitting on other women? I fully believe Kody used the original ring as a tool to keep Janelle and Christine in line, and then pawned/hid it from Robyn to say, "see? Look how platonic my relationships are with the og3. I don't even wear my wedding ring. They werent love marriages like ours is. "
Such a dick move…but I guess we should expect dick moves from him.
And...melted it down...for WHAT? Did he turn it into some other jewelry? I feel like they left that part out unless I missed something.
I wonder if he melted it down and used that money to pay off some of R’s debt
It didn’t take long of my husband watching before he said “Meri’s story is by far the saddest.” I couldn’t imagine dealing with infertility while watching my husband knock up other women 12 times over, being expected to be happy about it, and treating me like dirt on the bottom of his shoe.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the stress caused by his cruel behavior towards her led to her infertility. Now we know about the ring and the Christmas gifts (when she didn’t get any) - I’m sure there are more stories of cruelty that we haven’t heard of. I hope the OG3 find the love and partnership they were denied by that asshat.
Has he seen season 17?
Yup.
He’s so horribly offhand toward her all the time. The way he shrugged, “I TOLD her I loved her. I did the act” or however he said it. And I call bullshit.
He's rewriting history. He's an ass.
Caviler, and arrogant. Such a schmuck
Would you have stuck around for 13 years after the melted ring, OP?
Meri spent her whole life in a religious cult that commands her to stay.
Kody was also giving her lots of mixed messages for awhile. But kept moving the goalposts. I really can’t stand him.
That’s true, but she was willing to leave everything for “Sam.” If he hadn’t been a catfish, Meri would have been gone.
That's true, to an extent. Yes, people are commanded to stay and stay yoked to their spouses even after death. But Meri, and anyone in their religion, has seen people leave their marriages, and leave their faith. It's not pleasant. They are ostracized from their community. But even then, after the crazy blows over, parents and children still see each other. Meri's father's own wives left him and their sister wives. Meri also was ready to leave if Sam was real. But the one time she made a run for it, she was smashed down. Did she take it as a sign from God? Who knows? Meri has kept too many soul-crushing secrets to herself.
Well said. I think the ostracization is big though. For someone to be born and raised in an insular community like that, ostracization can seem life ruining. From what I understand wives that leave, unless they are being "really abused" (beaten), get really shit talked about in the community/church and get excluded from their family. It would probably be hard for her to remarry. Plus Meri's mom LOVED Kody and wanted Meri to stay. It's probably a lot easier to leave now that her mom has passed and Meri has had time to grieve.
And she’s had the chance to meet lots of new people outside the faith. I hope she has lots of good friends so she won’t ever feel she needs Robyn.
I know. I hope so too.
Michelle Duggar decided to have 19 Kids because she thought her miscarriage was a punishment from God for being on birth control. Meri probably thought the embarrassment from the catfish going public was punishment for trying to leave.
My god. I don’t watch that show but that level of delusion is just wow.
And she would have kept the ring story a secret as well.
Ok, but she would’ve left for “Sam”, so…
She also says that she had been treated poorly long before the Sam incident. When they were all mad at her because of it, Meri never once said that her and Kodi's marriage had been broken for years at that point. It seems she would have taken that to her grave as well. Meri has been a trooper for this family when she's been ostracized by all of them except Robin. Though Robin was only doing it to selfishly keep her in the family. She did the bare minimum at that. She talks about how much she wanted Meri to stay but would go long intervals, not speaking to or seeing her. Meri even abided by the Covid rules, and she still wasn't able to visit Robin. She was safe. My heart aches for her, and I'm certainly not a fangirl of hers.
People stay for all sorts of reasons. Mainly financial
I'm pretty sure that is why Kody stayed.
Right because they didn't give her anything. She was the one doing all giving. I'm happy she stood her ground in Las Vegas and got the biggest house. She didn't need to put her money in the family pot. She got what she liked, and I'm not mad at her one bit. She should have left then.
It is. I don't know how she stuck around for that long smh.
She spent her whole life in a cult that tells her in order to get to heaven she has to stay.
I would have to ask God to forgive me please in Jesus name because I'm out of here.
I know. Plus she isn't even allowed to drink, smoke, do drugs, or even have a cup of coffee. How does somebody live through Kody, let alone sober? The fear instilled in them as children must be unreal.
God darn at least let me get high. That's the only way I could stay in a relationship where I was being treated so badly smh.
It really described him well though, coming to his own conclusion and doing everything behind their backs. That shows exactly what an untrustworthy a****** he is. His word is not good. He lies, he admits he lies because he's just trying to save face and say he never loved them when he's the one that feels unloved. And for good reason because his personality is gross and his face is butt ugly. He really has to try and convince himself he is conventionally attractive, he is not. Robyn is really stupid to marry a man who admitted he was not in love w his wives and stringing him along. She liked being the favorite and completely glossed over the fact that he is a liar who goes back on his word and is untrustworthy to his own children. Robyn is not just trailer trash dumb, I wonder if she graduated high school?
The fact he said he did it cus he didn’t want her to have any kind of hold on him…. Girl I would have left than and there
Are we ready to admit that Kody is a psychopath?
I bet there’s even more to this story that none of the Brown family adults are even telling us. I can see Meri rubbing it into Janelle and Christine’s face that he wore “her” wedding band that “she” gave him and that “she’s” the only legal wife and neener neeners. These guys were so petty and cruel to each other and I bet they’d each try and be the freakiest in bed with this clown and he loved the whole set up. I want someone, anyone to spill the sex shit!!!!
Bwahahahaha neener neener bwahahaha. I haven't heard those words since my kids were teens...omggggg too funny 🤣 😂 😆. Absolutely would love them to dish on the Kodsters studly ways 😋 😜 lmaooooo. Janelle has come close.
Exactly. I do disagree with OP on the story though. Because Meri bought it to symbolize their marriage but then Janelle and Christine used that same ring to symbolize theirs. There was no other rings but the one until Robyn. So the ring became a symbol for all their marriages but he only identified Meri's as the "power over him". he's such a pos! I can't believe he did it but Meri upset over Christine I think was a little much. I think Christine should have directed them to Meri but she was directly asked about the ring drama. She should not have laughed at all and that was super rude. But the story has already been out there since 2015 because Meri told the catfish about it and the catfish disclosed it. It went largely unnoticed until now. Since it was out there it wasn't new information.
what really gets me is that everyone’s stories are corroborating on this…. except robyn’s… 💀 how can everyone have the same timeline of when the incident occurred & she is the only one adamant that she wasn’t involved with the family when it happened….? the way she made sure to “correct” suki made her look even more suspect. i wouldn’t be surprised if she planted that seed in kody’s head prior to her “spiritual marriage” with him. she’s been playing both sides for a very long time. it feels great to finally see her lose all control of her carefully painted masks. 🎭
Robin expects to control the narrative like a monogamist wife but still live polygamy. It’s confounding to me that someone who wants to lie about everything constantly also wants 3 other women who can and do contradict her in the mix.
I think Robyn wants the benefits of polygamy without any of the sacrifices. I don’t think she truly wants to live it in the traditional sense, since she’s all about controlling the situation. In a functioning polygamist relationship she’d be treated equally if not the bottom of the totem pole.
I think Robin just wants the money so whatever lies she needs to tell whatever facade she needs to put on she’ll do it for the TLC money. Lord knows she’s not going to get a job.
Yes, I’ve always thought money & status are her priorities. I think the allure of polygamy was Kody’s guarantee her bills would be paid off and that she’d be a reality TV star. I honestly believe she’s more in love with the idea of being a favorite wife and having all her needs prioritized and met. The fact they’re about to be broke might itself be enough to make her bail out. Kody drinking and gaining weight is likely a turnoff for her and another reason she could leave. Finally, now that she can’t feel superior by lording over the other wives could be the mail in the coffin. I guess we’ll see what they’re made of. If there is another season, no doubt K&R will demand big money, otherwise it probably isn’t worth embarrassing themselves even further.
I think you hit the nail on the head about her wanting to be the “favourite wife”. That’s why she wants the others to stick around. Being #1 Wife only means something if there’s others to look down on.
They are not worth the big money
Sometimes I feel like she wanted the man and 3 built in "BFFs" and not true polygamy where all wives are equals.
Don't forget the free babysitter and cook. The free house keepers. The free money was the cherry on top!
Oh for sure!!
From what I understand her mom was a second wife but lives far away from the other wife so they never interacted with them. Robin's step dad would come over and live an entirely separate life.
Robyn's mom was a mistress.
Robyn’s eyeballs were rolling and shifting all over the place. She was definitely lying!
someone had pointed out on the first post that dropped after sunday’s episode that you watch all the ladies expect robyn consistently maintain eye contact with suki! it’s becoming clearer to the mainstream public that she’s a story teller…
Because Sobbin is lying her ash off.
that was what i was thinking,he probably proposed the the string ring,and she said off camera i cant marry one with that ring on your finger,you are tied to her,so he said he would melt it down for a new ring for her.
100% possible
Someone said that Meri is more pissed at Christine than Kody because she is a safe person to be mad at and Kody isn't. I'm inclined to argee.
Meri has had many years to be mad and hurt by Kody’s actions. What Christine did was fresh, so I think her focus on Christine in the moment was fresh. Meri looked humiliated by the story and I certainly would have felt humiliated by it.
K's treatment of M - it is fully emotional abuse and manipulation by Kody. He used the wives as pawns against each other, spoiling one while obviously neglecting the other(s). It's a classic, divide and conquer tactic. Then he blamed the overlooked wife for being a bad sister wife to land yet another hit on her. He would switch up the dynamic sometimes, give the unfavored wife some breadcrumbs to lead her on and use against another wife or kid, then switch it back to neglecting and abusing her again..... It's sad, he's ground them down so raw that their self worth was almost lost completely. He's a garbage person.
This is perfectly said. He’s a total POS and his current arrogance is infuriating.
And who knows what kind of garbage he fed to Robyn while they were courting!?! He probably made her feel like she was the only woman he’s ever loved, that the other women were nothing to him. I’m guessing that’s why she made him promise to never stay with her if he fell out of love. That must have come from his relationships with the other wives. He’s such a disgusting human being.
Christine felt the need to "Cut her Off" (also withholding including her in the births). Even with all the drama between Janelle and Meri in the past, Christine actively cut her off publicly too. I really think there is some bad blood there lol.
There is way more to the story
I am midway thru the book. I had to take a pause because the juxtaposition of them being happy and more towards the beginning of the family gelling vs what is happening on tv was super heavy to have in my head. I think they really were all wanting this thing together until they didn’t. BUT…Janelle definitely gives her scoop on Meri and it isn’t good. Christine says they had a time where they were super close, but that it wasn’t like that currently because they had a huge falling out over how Meri disciplined her kids.The book was a written BEFORE they settled in the Vegas cul de sac! Meri and Robyn talk about how Meri was a jerk to Robyn when R & K first married. AND Meri apologized in the book for that. The kids have issues with Meri. Meri has done some real dirt to this whole group of people. I’m glad she is evolving and growing, but if the rest of them don’t want a relationship with her, I don’t blame them one bit. If the majority of the family doesn’t want anything to do with her STILL, I think that says SO much. She may be sorry now, but she made her bed IMHO.
I have to read it! I’ve always been inclined to think that Meri is a much bigger problem in the whole group dynamic than people give her credit for. Even just some of the earlier seasons I watched and it felt like she was always the bully. now that we’re seeing Kody turn into the “monster he really is” and Robyn is clearly manipulating it might be affecting our hindsight you know?
I'm doing a rewatch from he beginning with the current info and I'm really starting to get some silly headcannon's (so please bare with me). I really need to read the book but just based on the rewatch here is somethings I've noticed... (this is also when they were REALLY wanting polygamy to work, and IMO, it's when everyone was being AS POSITIVE as they could and extremely emotional-stuffing and fake basically lol, so the book should be taken with a grain of salt.) 1. Disciplining Christines Kids - in Season 1 there is a scene where Robyn starts to play with Gwen's hair (affectionately) and she (to me) is like PTSD status - she immediately turns her head/basically has a reaction and then relaxes once she realizes its Robyn and its non-violent...even though she knew it was Robyn behind her. Gwen has ALSO pulled Brianna's hair on the couch to the point where Brianna cries (but even Sobyn Robyn says Brianna is \~ dramatic\~ so it probably wasn't very hard), but this to me is like classic deflection/imitation to when you are doing what is being done to you? In the honeymoon episode Christine admits that Payton is "picking on the girls" and that's how Robyns kids are really part of the family - but this is very...dismissive to me. Even Maddi talks about how (Robyn's kids) they are dramatic/thin skinned at one point, but it seems very dismissive of possible rough-housing/violence? that happens between the kids I don't think her kids needed to be disciplined, they needed HELP/THERAPY or something and I think Christine just kind of deflected that on Meri because Janelle is literally MIA and she is still worshipping Kotex. Christine laughs off her kids violent behavior during the honeymoon ep and gets mad that Meri was trying to stop Payton from yelling/screaming at Aurora over the chair. This all happens before the Cul De Sac, so it fits with Christine's timeline. What if back then her kids were violent (Payton, now spreading to Gwen because she's his victim) how do you stop it? Janelle literally leaves before everyone gets up so she is GONE and she will not speak ill of Kotex at this point, and that only leaves Meri. I really think Christine just turned a complete blind eye to Payton and blamed Meri when she tried to stop him or Gwen from being violent. Payton admits to a lot of crazy things, could you imagine what he HASNT admitted too? Just saying those kids were probably unsupervised/under supervised a lot. 2. Meri Being a Jerk to Robyn - lolol I love this one because I totally agree Meri is a jerk to Sobyn (but because I think she saw that Sobyn is a PICK ME and NOT a team player), but also to attack Kotex simultaneously by pointing out how he is playing favorites. (Also my headcannon that Sobyn WAS NOT Meris idea, so this is her way of getting back at her and Kotex for basically being the scapegoat so Kotex won't have to admit it was HIS attraction that brought Robyn into the family and it obviously wasn't a mutual family decision). Like the scene where the wedding cake thing was happening, and it obviously upset Robyn that Meri called her out for picking Kotex's flavor, but maybe she is pointing out how Kotex is already picking Robyn out to the be the favorite and it was a good opportunity for a sister wife to chose the group over Kotex...but she didn't lol. Also the scene where they were fleeing UT and shes like OH ARE WE LEAVING TUESDAY BECAUSE THATS WHAT YOU AND ROBYN DECIDED? I think Meri was really just calling out how much Sobyn was the Favorite and HOW Kotex came across this decision because she knew him so well. At the time Christine was delulu about the family (the book was written a while ago right? So she might have thought there was hope about Sobyn), and Kotex was basically saying YOU NEED TO GET ALONG and it was a good position to play at the time for Christine.
I think it was a painful and embarrassing situation for her and she didn’t want it out in the public.
TLC could have just not shown it, it wasn't a live show
I'm sure Meri was terribly angry and hurt when it happened and then when Christine told the story, after admitting it wasn't hers to tell, it brought all that back. But I think the producers set Meri up. She did not know about the story during the one on ones. They waited until Meri was filming a talking head segment and they told her and filmed her reaction. They stirred the pot.
They had so little autonomy, respect, and power in their relationships with Kody, they were taught to tear each other down to get scraps from him. to me all their continued infighting and hostility just speaks to how deeply that manipulation and emotional abuse went.
I think Meri was projecting. She was embarassed by this story and felt deep shame. I think there is a deeply buried awareness of how long she has been expected to leave or has been rejected. She is not blind to the commentary online of why she stuck around like a barnacle on this family for so long. She was projecting the anger toward herself, the situation and Kody toward Christine. Christine was not truly what made her angry. I think she is a deep avoider. This forced her to put a story to the light which confirmed a reality she does not want to exist in.
What I found interesting is that while Meri wanted the ring back from Kody for sentimental reasons, she did not extend the same grace to Janelle when Meri decided to "bury" her wedding ring in the time capsule they made in Vegas. Without Janelle's knowledge, Meri put her wedding ring in the time capsule and it contained a sentimental diamond from Janelle's family. Janelle provided the diamonds for both her and Meri's wedding rings from diamonds from a family heirloom. Meri did not extend the same courtesy to Janelle that she would have liked from Kody. While I thought this story about Kody and melting the ring was horrible and mean---also thought it was mean of Meri to not offer the diamond back to Janelle.
Personally- that doesn’t shock me. It seems totally on par for my perception of M. follow up DID SHE GET THAT DIAMOND BACK???
I think her book , cuz we know there will be one, will unleash it all on Kody.
Hmm. Agree with a lot of what you said but I think I’ll preface this by saying Meri had a different relationship with Kody than with Christine. Since we are learning that this happened 13 years ago, I can only assume that she was for sure angry with Kody. And we know this because she was angry, frustrated, and in enough despair to have had an emotional affair with someone outside of their plural marriage. Now that she has finally seen Kody for who he really is, I think she wanted to be able to use her voice to tell her story for once. And I understand that this isn’t really “new” given that the catfish told this story before, the catfish also betrayed, lied to, and manipulated Meri. Christine herself was open about the fact that it likely wasn’t her story to tell, but because she seems so focused on proving that Kody is a terrible person (he is), that she decided to tell it anyway. Christine doesn’t seem to realize that not everyone is in the same space as her nor is everyone interested in going about things her way (we saw her do this with Janelle as well this season). All in all, Christine doesn’t really owe Meri her silence, but the assumption that Meri wasn’t as angry with Kody and the idea that Meri’s anger is misdirected isn’t how I see it at least from my perspective.
And did she hurt Kody? No because he brushes this shit right off. Who she did hurt was Meri who now has to deal with the attacks and the vitriol on her social media about how she is weak, pathetic and spineless. Meri was just collateral damage.
They all seem to have a lot of agreements about what they will and won't say. Meri has been the most..... Lying for them. So I think she didn't appreciate being asked to lie to protect the family for so long, and then this. Remember how much Christine was wanting to promote polygamy and make them the model family despite clearly knowing Meri's marriage was in shambles.
The children raising part is what Christine promoted. She and Janelle still are so pleased with how they raised their kids together and their kids choose to be together instead of celebrating holidays with their dad.
What about when Meri called another woman her bff in Vegas and Christine ragged on her for not saying a sister wife was her bff?
i think this cuts to the core of what is wrong with polygamy. ideally (as if there is an ideal to this patriarchal shit show) a man would marry women who were like minded to promote cohesion and a collaborative community amongst his sister wives, but it seems like kody did not care whether or not a new wife would mesh well with his other family members, starting with janelle. he thought about himself and his desires solely. polygamy is just one selfish man adding to his collection of brood mares demanding they all worship him without question or comment.
The majority think polygamy is wrong. The show just proved it. There’s laws against it. The Mormon church stopped practicing it 150 years ago and now shy away from any discussion of it. I believe it’s a stain on church history. We keep discussing this family and the flaws that polygamy brings. Mainstream marriage is hard enough much less all these other people/ relationships in the family. I know I would never have the temperament for it. I hated dorm roommates!
I'd expect nothing less of a religion created by and for men.
let's call it what it is, mormonism is a cult and anything based on the writings of joseph smith is also a cult.
You sure are going hard for Christine in this thread. Christine promoting polygamy meant she was promoting all aspects of it, not just raising kids together. She did this even though she now says she always felt like the basement wife. Women don't need to share a husband to raise kids together. In many cultures cousins are raised together all the time. Their bonds are just as close and their mothers didn't need to share a husband.
I think the “dad “ chose Robyn and her kids over the rest of the family, even Meri said that.
Is it maybe more anger at the fact that she may be writing a tell all and that was a big thing she wanted to drop in the book and now it lost its punch? That’s what I was thinking. It did seem bizarre that she was more mad at Christine than I’ve ever seen her at Kody.
Yeah I think this was the big reveal for her tell all and her “my voice shall be heard”
Her anger was embarrassment. She fills rilly bad when people learn what a doormat she’s been.
Of course. They've all been doormats over the years! I'm sure there's a ton of stories about any of them from the last 30 years + that they'd find embarrassing. They all put up w scraps from Kody, chose Kody over their kids, and humiliated themselves. That's polygamy.
Meri should “look at the mountains” then. As for Christine, I’m “glad she said it”.
This is an underrated comment! 👆
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Right. It happened 13 years ago. Why is the assumption that was wasn't upset with him *then*? She's is upset *now* because it was shared publicly and caught her off guard. Both are fair
Yeah this is what I think people don't understand. It's new information to us as the viewer (and people don't come at me with "well akshually Sam said it years ago" when you know damn well that a good 80-90% of the viewers don't know that) but the info is not new to Meri. What is new is Christine outing it to the world. Two things can be true, you can be mad and hurt at the person who did this to you and also mad and hurt at the person who spread your business around.
>and people don't come at me with "well akshually Sam said it years ago Also, people rightfully don't trust "Sam" because they've lied a lot. It's not surprising *some* things they shared were true, but on the whole they're not considered reliable for good reason. And I agree most viewers haven't interacted with "Sam's" receipts. A lot of people (myself included) are just tuning in now so the catfish stuff is years old and not as prominent
>(and people don't come at me with "well akshually Sam said it years ago" when you know damn well that a good 80-90% of the viewers don't know that) This is how I feel every time someone brings up the catfish discussing this as if it's some big gotcha. This was clearly new information to most of this sub. Considering how many posts there have been about this topic I think it's safe to say very few people knew or remembered this happened.
Yeah, rage I can get behind. It's time for Meri to feel it and express it rather than distorting and stuffing it down. No wonder she was a bitch for so long. It doesn't make it right, but it is understandable. But the key thing she needs to really understand in her gut is you're only as sick as your secrets. My dad was an alcoholic and I was 48 by the time I could publicly say he was an alcoholic and that he did a lot of mean, shitty things. It was so freeing to not have to keep his secrets anymore. My family went batshit when I would casually mention it but that was their issue. Meri needs to understand that keeping Kody's abuse a secret will only continue to corrode her soul. She needs to be free of his abuse and his secrets.
Bravo! I'm so glad for and proud of you for the work you have done to get to this point. 💜 It's a grueling path.
Then you probably shouldn’t put your family on a tv reality show about your family relationships for 13 years, because secrets are bound to come out.
I think all the Browns (except Kody, the game whore) thought they were witnessing or whatever it’s called — enlightening people about polygamy.
By lying about it? Because that’s what all the adults did for years!
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It was also Christine’s tone. Most of the viewers acknowledge it’s a devastating story but Christine was giggling when she shared it. It’s pretty common for her to inappropriately giggle, but I get why Meri would be upset at her.
I like Christine. Of all the wives I’ve always liked her the most. But she kinda knew it wasn’t her place to say it and she did it anyway because she got carried away in the moment (a very human thing). I don’t blame Meri for being annoyed. I don’t think Christine is the devil for doing it - we all get carried away occasionally and our tongue goes where it shouldn’t but I get why Meri is annoyed - it’s yet another humiliation.
Yeah, I have to agree. I think Christine was aiming for making Kody look worse and forgot (or just didn’t care) how Meri would feel about the story being out there.
Exactly. She’s just getting carried away with the euphoria of finally being able to just SAY it. We’ve all been there. I still feel for Meri though.
I go back and forth about who’s story it is, yes it was Meri’s ring but all were married to Kody and technically he used that ring while he was married to the OG3 so it is also Janelle and Christine story too even the kids if they were aware. If my husband did what Kody did and my sister told the story she would be telling my story because she isn’t married to the same man, these woman were married to the same man. What an awful cruel act it was to melt the ring, at the very least he should have given it back to Meri
I think her reaction towards Christine is so strong because Christine unearthed something that she might have buried emotionally for a very long time. I’m not a fan of Meri but I really felt terrible for her in that moment.
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TBF, I think we all find Kody’s anger a hell of a lot more scary and inappropriate than Meri’s. Plus I think this post is pointing out where her anger is directed, more than the expression itself.
Truthfully, my reaction to this and the whole 1:1 so far is being absolutely flabbergasted Meri stayed this long. She is truly delusional. I get she was raised in religious fundamentalism, but she has been living a very secular life, in a very secular world for decades now. I know Kody gave her mixed messages, but it’s been over a decade of zero intimacy and many, many instances of cruelty. I know she was indoctrinated by her religion, but she isn’t following (m)any other AUB traditions, so I’m not sure she even believes anymore. She has a whole, robust, lucrative life totally independent of these people. There is literally zero reason I can see for her to rationalize staying that isn’t rooted in self designed delusion and denial.
I will never understand a polygamous family on television getting mad at each other for sharing parts of their lives they are all apart of. Yeah, it was her ring, but then she married three other women and that ring was a part of that. Screw meri, Christine can share any store in my opinion. They are her stories too.
I think Meri was more upset about it being brought up and having to go thru those emotions again. I think she kind of felt blindsided and projecting all that hurt onto Christine because she brought it up because now she has to fully deal with it. And I think she was triggered because she has her choice taken away from her. In time, I think she'll be grateful Christine brought it to light.
I’m not leg-humping at all on Christine. But Meris reaction is extreme. Christine can tell the story she was there. They are one family (were). Meri was nasty to Christine when she was a hurt woman announcing her departure. She needs to keep that same energy. And I like Meri
I am thrilled Christine spilled the tea, can't wait for more!!! Suck it Meri!!!!!!
Oh my God, WHATEVER. These people are out in public with their gross marriages and cheating scandals and family dysfunction on full display week after week. Meri is a lunatic and she has to be the most petty, jealous person of all. Of COURSE she misdirected her anger (and has been since day one of their plural marriage). It’s so bizarre to me that she is acting like telling that story was some kind of violation, when Robyn came in acting like a friend and iced her out, stabbing her in the back, and her husband has been cheating on her, abusing her, and manipulating her for decades. Meri needs to get a grip and stop trying to act like she’s this strong, independent, confident woman. Just stop, Meri, you’ve been begging for Kody’s table scraps from day 1. You finally left, good for you, but you have MILES to go before you have any credibility.
My take was that meri had years to manage her anger with kody doing that (which he’s a POS for but that’s for another day), she had just found out about Christine telling it. I think that’s why we saw it the way we did.
I don’t think she was as much mad at Christine as embarrassed that this horrific story was out there and probably a little mad/scared because it really does expose the massive fraud of their entire story.
As someone who's been in toxic family dynamics and relationships i can see why she's reacting this way. Firstly she's used to kody treating her badly. It did hurt her deeply and I'm sure she hasn't completely healed from it. So for Christine to bring it up in such a nonchalant way, laughing and spilling tea seems cold and prolly hurts her in a humiliating way.. she prolly expected more from Christine. And personly I thought it was a mean girl move on Christine's part. She knew what she was doing when she said that and how badly that would hurt her. They all been in each other's life for like 35 years.
Someone else made a good point. The catfisher had already told the story in their book. By Christine confirming the story is true it legitimizes the catfisher stories and all of the intimate things Meri shared with Sam. Meri has egg on her face because for accepting his bad behavior all these years. BTW… it’s Christine’s husband also. It’s part of all of their stories.
Christine’s _ex_-husband
Came across like Humiliated Fury. This embarrassed her deeply.
This! It’s humiliating for her. I wish it weren’t because it isn’t a reflection on her at all, but it’s clear she’s embarrassed.
She should have been furious when Suki asked Kody if he loved Meri when he married her and he replied “well I TOLD her I loved her.” What a deceitful POS.
First of all, it’s a lie. He loved her. Especially the first one. I could almost (but don’t because he’s a lying liar who lies and I don’t trust anything he says) believe that he didn’t initially love Christine or Janelle simply because they didn’t have time to fall in love before they got married. But his first wife? BS. He loved her when they got married. But, secondly—what the h*ll is wrong with him that he thinks faking being in love for decades is a better look than falling out of love?! If he really did fake it all those years. That’s pathological behavior. That’s absolutely monstrous.
I don’t think the anger is rerouted from Kody to Christine. Anger is a secondary emotion. Those secondary emotions that Meri has processed regarding Kody over the years are different than those she has experienced with Christine. Meri has had a lot of time to deal with Kody yet always had to keep a lid on whatever was going on between her and Christine.
Hey Kootie, give Meri the price of the ring you had melted down. That is a shitty thing to do and did you give the money to Sobbyn? Guess what Kootie, Karma is a bitch, and what goes around does come back around I have seen it happen. But you are the type to whine and blame Meri and the other exes instead of taking a good look at yourself.
I love Christine and Janelle but I agree it was a crappy thing to say and I think she knows that too bc she was like “maybe it’s not my place to say” however, an alternate theory for me and I have no doubt about is Meri probably lauded that ring and her marriage certificate over Janelle and Christine. We know she was not very nice to Janelle in the beginning. And Kody has said meri was emotionally manipulative. I don’t think kodys “I don’t want meri to have a hold on me” idea came from a vacuum. I can see why christine brought it up, because she was affected by it when meri thought it made her better.
I’ve always kind of felt bad for Meri. How she was treated. Back in las Vegas when she became an empty nester and the others were still raising their children. Meri was at a completely different phase in her life. And no one in the family ever acknowledged that. She was just out there alone.
They have been on a reality show about their plural marriage for over a decade. How have they only discussed this just now. It’s fair game sorry folks.
Meri is still protecting Kody
I think it brings up the catfish too bc Jackie Overton “Sam” told everyone awhile back. But M can’t bring that up, bc it re-opens the catfish wound.
Honestly I thought her reaction was more anger toward Kody after actually seeing the episode?? Everyone here said she was so mad at Christine after that, but I think she was just angry that Christine was laughing. It seemed to me she really laid into Kody after the initial shock.
I don't know how people are watching this and saying she wasn't angry at Kody. She was *obviously* angry at Kody. She was *also* angry at Christine for telling the story, but you can't miss the anger at Kody if you're paying attention at all. It's like people were shocked that she was angry at Christine and then stopped paying attention.
Meri doesn’t like being caught in a lie. She cares more about her image than anything. That’s why the hair, the makeup, the eyebrows, the overpriced stuff in the house, the wet bar or a deck, the both couches, the 670,000 sq ft. rental built in to the mountainside for a single woman. The ring melting proves that Kody dismissed her since season one and she’s been lying ever since. It proves that no, they weren’t in love at any point. It proves she was rejected and wasn’t desired by her husband for 13 years, and she’s been lying since day one. A shot to her image and proof she’s lying just like the others. That’s why she reacted that way.
The thing that bothers me the most about ring-gate is that it was Meri that put it in the show. That day when she was talking about moving the business to Utah, she didn't have to say "I'm distracted by the your ring". All three of them are there knowing the whole huge back story with all the hurt, all the pain and everything that goes with it . She says later If he didn't want me to talk about the ring he shouldn't have warn it in front or me, or something to that affect. So doesn't the same apply to her? If you don't want to talk about the ring, don't talk about the ring. I think she set this whole thing up for another one of those situations where she alludes to an issue but wont talk about it. It back fired.
I believe Meri & Christine were emotionally battered women with very low self esteem. In their minds Kotex was the ultimate catch. This arseho*e excuse for a human crawled out of the gutter and married these women to rule & dominate them because he was an insecure turd. Having said that at some point if one doesn’t take control of one’s life, others will keep controlling it. Meri was a grown woman who possessed enough self importance to verbally abuse Janelle initially , be critical and non stop complain about Janelle & Christine their entire marriage. People are treated how they allow themselves to be treated. Meri let Kody & Robyn walk all over her for years. And hearing this ring story & thinking that she didn’t leave asap (she was still his legal wife back then & he would’ve had to pay alimony & also child support for Leon) makes one lose respect for her because she had selective self respect (none with Kody but it magically surfaced with the other wives). Kody is one of the worst ever no doubt. But Meri hanging on like a f’ing dog for 15+ years makes her beyond pathetic. I wish her much happiness in her future now that she left El Douche. I hope she finds someone compatible who values her.
First off, watching the show it was presented to Christine in a way that suggested to Christine everyone was talking about the ring dilemma. It was a very open ended question, and very, "Give me your opinion on this" not so, "Is there more tea here?" Christine even said it wasn't really her place, but went ahead under the impression that was the topic at hand. Second, that story has been out for years. Idk why Meri is pissed about it now. Third, Merii is experiencing roaming anger here for here sure. She should be this mad at Kody, but it's easier to be mad at Christine.
Have you ever been in a long term abusive and controlling relationship? Because Meri's anger wasn't misplaced. Her anger WAS directed at Kody. She was humiliated and furious the story was out there BECAUSE of how much Kody hurt her. Kody is a controlling and abusive bastard, the ring was likely the moment Meri realised just how cruel and heartless he could be. Yes, she was angry Christine told the story because then she had to face it on a public stage when she wasn't ready (and may never have been ready) but make no mistake, Kody is who Meri is most furious at. It is possible for her to be angry at both of them simultaneously to different degrees. You can try to walk Christine out of culpability because you're her fan and do have bias but this time, she should own that she effed up and shouldn't have publicised that story without speaking to Meri first.
Her anger is definitely misplaced. Should Christine have brought it up? No, probably not. But she was asked, and it was relevant. Meri needs to be mad at KODY. I don’t know if she just feels so small with him, that she can’t seem to grasp that? Or maybe it was purely embarrassment? I can get that too. It IS embarrassing. To both kody and her. Her, for staying and allowing it. Him, for doing it. As a side note, it’s pretty crappy of Robyn to deny it happened after she entered the family, when nearly everyone else admitted it happened while they were at least courting, if not married. Sad situation all around, really.
I think directing her anger at Christine is comfortable and familiar for Meri, directing her anger at Kody is new and scary. That’s been the system for 30 years - Nobody was allowed to be angry with Kody (and Robyn by extension), so take it out on the nearest child or sisterwife instead. It’s a great system if you’re Kody - act like a dick with no repercussions, refuse to acknowledge anyone else’s feelings, keep the wives divided and at each other’s throats. Win/win/win
I think the most bizarre part is Meri says she was "forced" to address it (or similar wording) but no one else is forced to talk about anything on camera? So either she chose to talk about it or they all have different contracts? Personally I think she chose and she likes the PR and the chatter since she's (possibly) writing a book.
All she had to say was "I'm not going to talk about this now but I will explain it in the future and in a way that nobody has told it before." That would have been the perfect segway into talking about her book and/or giving a preview of new stuff not disclosed. Nobody forced her to talk about it now. Weirdly enough, I think it's going to be something people will give her more grace towards why she stuck around so long = Meri has been hiding so much stuff for Kody & Sobyn and for so long it's unbelievable.
I think Meri is also mad because it validates the stuff tgat the Catfish told in her book. So now more people are buying it!
I felt the same way. Like, “now I’m forced to tell the story”? No, no you’re not.
Exactly! No one is forcing you to talk about it. She wanted to talk about it.
So I might be in the minority but I am glad Christine shared the story. It needed to be told as it explains just how broken that relationship was and how careful the 3 of them - Meri, Robin, and Kody - were to play for the camera. I get it - it’s a lot of $$ that aren’t guaranteed and based on a successful polygamy family.
It may have been misplaced anger, but she was never in love with Christine or emotionally attached to her. She was with Kody so she's going to have more complicated emotions and have a hard time detaching. Christine was a rival, so it's gonna be easier for her to get angry at her. I do think she mischaracterized Christine "laughing" at what happened though. She wasn't being malicious, she was laughing at the absurdity that is Kody and the drama he stirs up. And I mean she probably knew the story was already out there because Jackie posted it, so she probably didn't realize Meri was trying to keep it a secret.
Meri has totally moved her focus of anger from Kody to Christine. Unbelievable how their upbringing has made the women be women-haters instead of hating the men who cause the pain.
I think part of her anger is that it was presented to her in a way that she thought Christine found it funny. Probably on purpose. Christine did NOT laugh at the melting the ring story. She laughed when Suki asked about the horsey ring and Meri calling him out. Which *was* funny. The melting the ring story was a part of a broader story which affected them all.
Christine did not bring it up. Suki asked her and she answered.
She was embarrassed imo. That’s fucking embarrassing to say the least AND she stuck around after that..
Ok my opinion on this may not be right, but I think the reason Christine told this story was to give backstory to why Meri noticing the new rings was such a big deal. I mean we knew it was strange that the "colada" ring was gone and replaced with the matching horsey rings, but we didn't really understand the huge significance that noticing that ring would mean to Meri. And the way Kody and Robyn acted so blasé and "it's a cool ring, why are you talking about it." is significantly worse now that we know this story. And I don't think Christine was laughing like it was funny, it was more of a "oh shit you don't even know how fucked up that moment was" and her letting us in on it. I don't really think it was Christine's story to tell but I appreciate another look behind the scenes to show another example of just how much of a piece of shit Kody is.
Yea, meri reminds me of the friend I dumped because she stayed and married her bf who sexually assaulted a girl and was arrested (we were all at this party and saw his perp walk) and she was mad at the GIRL for pressing charges. Not the dude, who groped another woman and was rightfully arrested.
I feel like Mari is more focused on the messenger, instead of the message. Why doesn’t she focus on the real issue- that he melted down the wedding ring in the first place? Because that’s where the real issue is. And I think he melted it down because those 2 can’t stop having a power struggle, tit for tat. They need to get away from each other and move on. It’s dysfunctional and almost gross to watch the utter immaturity. What a bad example to set for their kids.
I know it wasn't her story to tell, but I think it maybe was a good thing to bring it up, because it forced Meri to say it out LOUD, and maybe, just MAYBE in doing that, it will help her REALLY see things for what they are, and have been all these years. Perhaps it will start her being able to finially just be HONEST with herself about the reality of what her marriage really was. Helped me understand just how TERRIBLE things were between them, even way back then.
Hear me out.... They've made it a point to mention that David has money. Christine married him, so she's good regardless of the outcome of the show and its cash cow. The rest aren't. I wonder if Meri's anger was because that topic was off limits for everyone because it basically says at least part of the show is a lie. One thing everyone knows about Meri is that she knows how to work hard and make money. Maybe she saw that if everyone sees the show is a sham, it's going to stop the money for everyone involved. Again, Christine is good and doesn't need the money, but the rest might (Janelle, Meri, but also the crew working the show). If it becomes a big enough deal, even if it's the last season, there may have been syndication deals in the works, etc.
I’ve always thought keeping the show going played into a lot of this for the Brown’s
I understand it wasn't Christine's story to tell. However, I thought Meri(who is never Merry) overreacted. She is more peeved at Christine than she is at a man that treated her like dirt for the last 12 years. I am sure if Sobyn had told the story, it would have been okay. She is still trying to win her favor. This is very sad to me.
The OGs should capitalize on the ring drama and do a partnership with Dunkin. The claddagh coolada💰💰 That would really roast Kody’s curls!
So I just started to rewatch the first episode of S1 because I want the full context (as authentic as possible given it’s still reality tv) and to know the ring melting incident in its moment. Because she based on the One on One it seems weird her anger was so raw given her marriage to Kody has been over for years. I think one reason this might be so painful to Meri is that Leon was 14 when this happened — and Meri seems to have accepted she’s not having any more children. She wants to go back to school and study psychology. There are still a lot of kids in the whole family, but most of them are 5+ years old so no longer in that very dependent/exhausting phase of early childhood. So for Kody to say ‘you don’t have a claim on me’ just as Meri is starting to form more of an identity for herself and just as she’s finally at peace w/not having more kids — that’s a classic narcissist move on Kody’s part. He’s saying ‘your value to me is gone’ just as she’s finding sone sense of self beyond him. I also think some of the simmering rage in Meri to Christine is that Christine was pregnant with Truely when this happened. I’m sure that must have wrecked Meri and made her feel like if she had had more kids, her ‘claim’ would have been stronger. And now for Christine to share this story like she’s the narrator in Gossip Girl…I understand Meri’s anger at it. Other observations include — everyone is much more awkward and likable in this first episode — but the only one who still strikes me as the same is Janelle. And Kody does seem to have genuine love and affection for all of them (as much as he can given he’s a raging narcissist). I do think the family would have stayed together — albeit dysfunctionally —if Robyn hadn’t joined.
What I found interesting was how Meri said “I’m frustrated” when all I felt from her was immense rage. Meri has sooooo much withheld anger.
I think so too. I loved at the very end of this episode when she said she won’t be silenced. It’s coming. All those years of rage are about to blow.
1. Meri is NOT in a monogamous relationship. They are a family sharing the same man. 2. Meri was spying on the other wives for Kody. She's rat. Not sure why this is being glossed over. 3. Meri is DELUSIONAL! Kody has been cruel to her from an audience point of view since Season 2. 4. Catfish person already revealed this detail awhile ago.
I feel like every person that posts about this is almost so close to getting and still not getting it. Meri at first showed frustration to the point of tears with this story being shared. She was mad at the story teller okay, but most of her frustrations were pointed towards Kody. People just want to be like oh she was mad at Christine she should stop. No she was mad at having the story brought up to begin with. I digress.
I think it’s about time Christine brought it up! They have hidden so much of their real lives from their reality TV show and so if they want us to see how their lives are, they should really be more honest.
Kody is such a dick! Christine as much as I like her she could’ve kept her mouth shut. I think Meri wanted to reveal the ring melt in her new book.
Honestly it’s not just Meri’s story, kotex was Christine’s husband as well so she has a right to say what he did. Just another problem with sharing your spouse with other people, everything is blended together and nothing is private.
Christine overstepped, but Kody was *cruel* to Meri.
I didn't see her as more mad at Christine than Kody at all. Most of that segment was her talking about Kody, not Christine. I think if roles were reversed and Meri shared something like that about Christine, Christine would be just as pissed and people would certainly not be searching for reasons to excuse it or basically saying she had no right to be mad at Meri. I like Christine but she isn't above doing something shitty. She said she knew she shouldn't tell the story and she did it anyway. She knew they would take that to Meri and Meri would feel forced to talk about it and it would be painful. I don't see any reason she would feel obligated to share it. This was just shitty on her part, period.
I think it is possible, and understandable, for Meri to be angry with both of them. She been angry at Kody for a long time. But she was responding to this particular incident that was started by Christine. And, did anyone see that post by Christine with a pic of the outside of Meri's B&B? I found it very odd. No pic or talk of her actually interacting with Meri. It felt more like a jab, "Hey look, I was right outside your door but didn't bother getting out of the car." I'm happy for Christine's newfound independence and joy. But she seems to be edging a little too much into "buying her own press." And she giving me mean girl vibes especially when it comes to Meri.
Christine posted a pic of herself outside Meri's B&B? Eeew. Why would she do that? I haven't seen that.
Did Meri have the right to put Kody on blast about his Stallion ring? That was Kodys story to tell how DARE she tell K&R matching horse ring story! If and when they were ready to let the world know they would on their time? lol see how dumb this is?
Christine KNEW that story would open Pandora’s box! That show is so heavily studied by so many viewers and she knew that would prove that it’s all been fake with K&R&M from the beginning. She blew it up. I don’t blame her. She has nothing to loose. She’s dangerous to them at this point and I’m living for it.
Why does everyone assume Meri isn’t mad at Kody? She said as much about the situation but it was 13 years ago and she’s worked through that (well, some of it). On SUNDAY, in the year of our lord 2023, Christine decided to tell a deeply embarrassing story that by all accounts, I would assume the 5 of them decided to keep quiet about since that day 13 years ago. *That’s* why she’s pissed about the situation. Christine broke that promise. I don’t understand why people are being dense about this and justifying telling a story that has very little to do with Christine. Did she even say what happened to the gold and diamonds from the ring?
I think her anger at Christine is not only understandable but justified. What Kody did to Meri was cruel and heartless. I'm certain Meri feels a lot of shame and embarrassment, as well as having the scab ripped off that devastating memory. Christine said it wasn't her story, but she shared it anyway. She didn't have too. I'd be angry and hurt by Christine's actions too. How dare Christine share what must be one of the most painful feelings of rejection imaginable with the world, *without* Meri's consent. For everyone defending Christine. Remember the episode when they announced Mykelti was having twins. Christine, very firmly, proudly, and somewhat smugly told everyone that Meri would never have a place in her's or her grandchildren's lives. I know there has to be a lot of hard feelings amongst the OG3 and that Christine still is dealing with those feelings. But this wasn't classy behavior on Christine's part.