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Kody Brown calls Meri Brown to share devastating news in the latest episode of the TLC series. “Sister Wives.”
The somber scene begins with Meri Brown on set, preparing to film an interview about her birthday with the TLC show’s crew. The reality star then notices that her ex-husband is calling her.
“You want to take it?” a producer asks.
“Nope. He can text me if he needs me,” she replies, saying it’s “weird” that he’d be calling her right now but assuming it’s not urgent.
When Kody Brown calls again, Meri Brown seems confused and says, “I already texted and said….” then trails off.
A moment later, she announces that it’s “an emergency” after reading his response to her text message.
Meri Brown promptly answers the call and looks instantly alarmed. “What?” she says then the scene fades to black.
A message then appears on the screen that reads, “On March 5, 2024, Kody and Janelle’s son Garrison passed away.”
The scene then shifts to an interview with Janelle Brown, who recalls how her son Gabriel Brown was the one to find his brother Garrison Brown, who died by suicide at the age of 25.
When Meri Brown reappears in an interview filmed at a later date, she recalls the conversation she had with Kody Brown when he called her on the day of his son’s death.
“He told me the words that I’ll never forget. He goes, ‘Garrison took his life.’ And it was just like this weird, weird, surreal moment that like — No, not one of our kids. No, they’re not going to do that. You know?” she says. “And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ And he’s like, ‘No.’
Meri Brown says she left to go to Kody and Robyn Brown’s house at that moment and ran into Gwendlyn Brown, one of the five daughters Kody Brown and Christine Brown Woolley share.
“Gosh, she just came out and she just like hung on to me. Oh gosh. Like I didn’t even know what to do,” she says.
Next, Meri Brown calls Janelle Brown to check in on her.
“I said, ‘I’m stopping, I’m getting food and I’ll be over in a little bit, then I’ll just be there.’ I didn’t know what else to do,” she says.
Later in the episode, Meri Brown recalls the private viewing the Browns hosted for family and friends following Garrison Brown’s death.
“That was the last time we saw his body and that was really, really difficult. That was really, really painful,” she says.
Kody Brown, who was estranged from his son at the time of his death, reflects on the tragedy in his own confessional interview.
“The strongest memories I have in these three days was actually being at the funeral home with Janelle. I didn’t know what to say to anybody besides I’m sorry to everybody,” he says.
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