Rosie O’Donnell admits she’s not a Kody Brown fan after learning he is no longer starring on Sister Wives after 20 seasons.
“So I just put on season 21 of Sister Wives — after not watching for a decade — and found out happily Kody is not on it anymore!!!!” O’Donnell, 64, wrote via Instagram on Monday, November 2.
The comedian shared a promo photo of the remaining stars — Kody’s ex-wives, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown and Christine Brown in support of the female-led season.
“It’s actually interesting to see these women after him — fascinating in many ways @sisterwivestlc,” O’Donnell added.
Janelle Brown, Meri Brown and Christine Brown. Courtesy of TLC
O’Donnell’s comments come more than one month after viewers discovered that Kody, 57, and his now lone-wife, Robyn Brown, exited the TLC series.
“After 16 years of filming Sister Wives, Kody & Robyn will not be returning to the show,” the network announced via the show’s season 21 trailer in September.
Kody’s former spouses also weighed in on the surprising news, with Janelle, 57, admitting in the clip, “I was flabbergasted, really, when I got the news. “
First wife Meri, 55, was also taken aback, telling the cameras, “I was actually surprised when I was told that Kody and Robyn weren’t coming back to the show.”
Earlier this month, Janelle revealed that she “actually got an email that they weren’t coming back,” telling People on Monday, “I’m like, ‘Oh, wow. OK.’”
Janelle, who confirmed her split from Kody in December 2022, confessed, “I haven’t talked to them since, well, since we were all together after we sold the property [in season 20], and I don’t know anything about what’s going on in their lives.”
Kody Brown. TLC/YouTube
Throughout the season, Janelle has also been honest about the end of her marriage.
“I don’t think Kody and I ever really had a solid identity as a couple,” Janelle explained during the October 11 episode. “He and I were always very much thinking about the family. We thought about the whole.”
She noted that Kody’s tension with their children started to bubble over amid the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, marking a turning point for Janelle. (Janelle and Kody share Logan, 32, Maddie, 30, Hunter, 29, Gabe, 25, Savanah, 21, and the late Garrison, who died in March 2024 at the age of 25.)
“That’s when all of a sudden I’m like, ‘OK, I don’t know if I can do this anymore,’” she said, admitting, “It was a burden to stay married.”
While Janelle has been vocal about her highs and lows with Kody during season 21 of the hit TLC series, she is not the first or last of his wives to leave him.
Christine, 54, who was Kody’s third wife, was the first to leave their plural family. She announced in November 2021 that she and Kody had split after more than 25 years in a spiritual union. (Christine shares six kids with her ex-husband. She has since moved on with David Woolley, whom she wed in October 2023.)
Janelle, meanwhile, was spiritually married to Kody from 1993 to 2022 before the end of their relationship.
Meri, for her part, was legally married to Kody from 1990 to 2014. She agreed to legally divorce the Wyoming native at the time so he could legally wed Robyn, 48, and adopt her three children from a prior marriage.
Meri and Kody, who share one child, remained in a spiritual relationship for almost another decade before she confirmed in January 2023 that they were no longer married.
Robyn, who shares two biological children with the patriarch, is still legally married to Kody.
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.