'Sister Wives' Fans Disgusted by Kody Brown as Gabe Breaks Down in Scene

Kody Brown has come under fire from Sister Wives fans after his son Gabe was shown breaking down over their relationship in an emotional scene on the latest episode.

The pair both feature on the 17th season of the TLC show, which follows Kody, 53, his legal wife Robyn, 43, and spiritual wives Meri, 51, and Janelle, 53.

Kody was also previously spiritually married to Christine Brown, 51, but the pair announced their split in November 2021, and she has since left the show.

On the most recent episode of Sister Wives, that aired on December 4 but was filmed in October 2021, Kody and Robyn contracted COVID-19. The illness hit the family hard and Robyn even had to go to the hospital with her severe symptoms.

During the ordeal, Kody reached out to one of his sons with Janelle, Gabriel, also known as Gabe, to find out how he had coped when he had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier that year.

The day that Kody called happened to be Gabe's birthday, though Kody was not aware of this as he had forgotten.

"I didn't remind him that it was my birthday because I wanted to see if he remembered," Gabe told the cameras in his confessional interview as he began to tear up. "And he didn't. So to him it was just a phone call just asking me about COVID."

"It was a lot worse than just a phone call for me," he added as he began to sob and wipe his eyes.

Gabe then revealed that Kody tried to phone him back a few hours later to apologize. He also said that he no longer speaks to his father and that the October 2021 phone-call incident was "the last time" he ever talked to his dad.

The episode did not show Kody responding to the situation, but fans were quick to react to the heartbreaking scenes on social media, with many viewers taking to Reddit to express their sympathy for Gabe and their disdain for Kody.

One user called moondeli wrote: "I literally had to look down from the tv I felt so sad for him, it felt wrong to watch him be so vulnerable like that."

While blurrylulu posted: "I'm sickened over that scene... I have very challenging relationships with my parents (long divorced), but I cannot fathom either forgetting my birthday nor any of my siblings. Kody is SUCH an a******."

"That was painful to watch. My heart breaks for that boy and any of the other kids [Kody] has decided to forget," MamasSweetPickels added.

And GhostsAreRealYall wrote: "That scene hurt me to the core too. Tears in my eyes, I could feel Gabe trying not to believe that he doesn't matter to his own father. Kody has SO many kids, he can't remember their birthdays? It really shows how Kody's love is conditional when a parent's love—out of all the relationships there are—should truly be unconditional. I'm glad Kody semi redeemed himself by calling back, but ball is really in Kody's court to fix the relationships with his boys."

Newsweek has contacted a representative for Kody and Sister Wives for comment.

This is not the first time Kody has come under scrutiny from fans—or the mothers of his children—over his treatment of his kids.

Earlier in the season, there was an episode titled "Where Is Kody?" that showed his various partners lamenting the fact that he never seems to have enough time to spend with all of his family members.

Kody shares six children, including Gabe, with Janelle, six children with Christine, and one with Meri. He adopted Robyn's three children from her first marriage and the pair also share two more.

Sister Wives continues Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.