It’s known that every member of the Brown family has been involved in their fair share of controversies, but the many scandals surrounding Matt surpass anything any of his siblings ever did. Doing justice to his fame as the most mysterious Brown child, Matt certainly knows how to get people’s attention, even if it’s in a negative way.
So whatever happened to Matt Brown? He hasn’t been seen in “Alaskan Bush People” for a couple of years, and rumors circulating about him aren’t positive, making his fans worry that something bad might have happened to him, or that he’s estranged from his family for good.
Keep with us to know what Matt Brown is doing nowadays, details about his most recent scandals, and many other shocking revelations regarding him and his family.
Where Is He Now?
During the last couple of years life hasn’t been the kindest for the Brown family, and especially not for Matt.
https://www.facebook.com/alaskanbushpeoplefansjdb/photos/a.2149114368489532/4041217642612519/
Besides struggling with his alcoholic tendencies, a prolonged feud with his family, facing sexual abuse accusations, and many financial difficulties, early in 2021 he also lost his father Billy Brown.
Although many people are understandably upset about his past decisions, others have been evidently more empathic of his situation. As seen on his Instagram account, his almost 200,000 followers have loyally supported him during his darkest times.
Nonetheless, not everything is bad news when it comes to Matt. Although he hasn’t been seen in “Alaskan Bush People” since its eighth season, in recent year’s his fans gladly welcomed him becoming more active on social media, on which he’s not afraid to express his honest opinion about his family and the show, share recipes, videos of his garden’s flowers, and work routine.
Although it’s not confirmed exactly where he lives, Matt is rumored to have been living in California for a few years now.
As seen on his Instagram, his house is quite rustic and not very lavish at all, but Matt looks quite happy with it.
Where Does He Work Now?
Regardless of the fact Matt Brown became very active on Instagram in the course of 2021, it’s unclear what he’s doing for a living.
As it’s known, he was financially cut-off by the family back in 2019, and hasn’t received any financial help from them since then. As well, it’s known that he doesn’t have a stable career, which surely has made it difficult for him to find a job.
However, knowing he’s living in a small cottage in a rural area somewhere in California, it’s expected that he has some source of income. As seen on some of his posts, Matt provides for himself by growing some of his food – his videos show him close to massive amounts of legumes and fruits, which makes us believe that he has a job related to farming or food distribution. Although this remain speculative as Matt hasn’t confirmed his actual job.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAOGUtWlGED/
His Problems With The Show
Even if the small bits of his life Matt Brown lets us see on his social media give off the impression he’s living a simple but happy life, the truth is that his life is quite complicated.
As it happens, Matt’s absence from “Alaskan Bush People” hasn’t been solely caused by his ongoing feud with his family, but is related to the show’s staff as well. In a campfire video he shared on Instagram, Matt affirmed that other people’s secrets had been ‘destroying’ him ‘for a long time’. Those secrets are actually related to the true nature of “Alaskan Bush People”, which he stated was entirely based in one of his father’s books, confirming a theory which had been going around the internet for quite some time.
That wasn’t the most surprising of his revelations, though.
Besides claiming that he was in a tough financial situation due to his family’s opposition to sharing income from the show with him, Matt also accused “Alaskan Bush People” producers of invading his privacy by tapping his ‘phone. However, definitely the most shocking part was his claim that producers provided him with drugs through his parents, despite knowing his longtime struggle with his addiction.
Of course, neither Matt’s family or the show’s staff addressed his statements, but his words aren’t easy to forget.
Feud With His Family
If Matt’s revelations about the show were shocking, what he has to say about his family was even more ground-shaking.
As is well known, for years Matt’s alcoholic tendencies made his relationship with his parents quite difficult. Nonetheless, after undergoing a long rehabilitation process, people thought Matt was on good terms with his family. However, following the death of patriarch Billy, Matt brought to light the very tough feud the Browns were going through.
For starters, Matt affirms that Billy had hoarded his children’s earnings from the show, in addition to having total control over their contracts. As affirmed, Matt’s family owes him over $300,000 from his show’s appearances, a considerable amount of money which would surely help him during the financially unstable times he has been going through recently.
According to Matt, his mother and siblings were opposed to giving him money, apparently even arguing that he was ‘deserving of being stolen’ due to his alcoholic past. In August 2021, Matt revealed that he’d got into an argument with one of his brothers, stating he was ‘set off’ after being led to believe the Browns were going to pay him.
As complicated as the situation looks from the outside, Matt affirms he still wants to reunite with his family, and fix their relationship.
Rape Accusations
Two women publicly accused Matt Brown of sexually abusing them in two separate incidents, which allegedly took place in 2018 in a California home.
The first victim who goes by the name of Jessica Judges and worked as part of “Alaskan Bush People” staff, accuses Matt of raping and almost drowning her in a pool, only saved when Shelly Dawn Early, who was Matt’s manager back then, pulled him off the victim.
Only three days later, Matt allegedly sexually abused Shelly in the same. In both cases, the victims affirm that Matt was under the influence of alcohol.
At first, Jessica and Shelly reported the rapes to the Los Angeles Police Department, but seeing that the District Attorney dismissed their allegations, the victims publicly spoke about them to The Sun in September 2020. Nonetheless, neither Discovery, “Alaskan Bush People” production staff, Matt or the Brown family addressed the issue. However, Jessica revealed a long message thread on which Bear and Gabe Brown advised her to ‘stay away’ from their brother, even though both men had first supported her on the issue.
https://www.facebook.com/alaskanbushpeoplefansjdb/photos/a.2149114368489532/4041217269279223/
The time when both incidents apparently happened coincides with the date that Matt had entered a rehabilitation program.
Struggles With Addictions
Matt’s addiction problems allegedly started in 2016. As it happens, back then the Browns family boat had broken down, and seeing no other option than to stay in Juneau, he frequented the local bars quite a lot.
As he told People, the change of lifestyle wasn’t the real cause of his addiction as much as ‘hanging out with people who drank’ was. That year, according to Radar Online, Matt was arrested in Juneau for driving under the influence after partying the entire night. At the time he was also accused of colliding with a motorcycle in his 1986 Volvo, and was ultimately bailed out by his father for $250.
Reportedly, Matt entered rehab right after that first incident, but despite his initial positivity regarding his recovery, he went to rehab once again in September 2018. Despite being advised to stay for at least 90 days, that second time he only stayed in the program for a month. Allegedly, he even rejected having a sober coach to monitor his improvement.
Matt’s apparent carelessness about his well-being resulted in him entering rehab for the third time in February 2019, though his relapse was quite possibly caused by his mother Amy’s serious health problems at the time.
On a positive note, in July 2020 Matt announced that he’d been sober for an entire year.
Relationship With His Parents
Although nowadays Matt is feuding with his mother and siblings for financial reasons, his relationship with his parents has been difficult for years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YSnqYS1gwY
Problems between him and his parents started back in late 2018, when Matt left his second rehab program after only a month. As reported, Amy and Billy hadn’t agreed with his decision, and even unsuccessfully tried to convince him to accept a sober coach. Afterwards, Matt reportedly went back to his partying habit, and soon had another relapse.
According to Radar Online, Amy and Billy apparently ‘threatened’ Matt to leave him out of the show if he didn’t enter rehab once again. Despite the tense situation, Matt eventually followed their instructions and joined the program, but stayed in California after it wrapped up. In May 2019, Matt and Amy reconciled when she was recovering from her long battle with cancer.
Although Matt’s relationship with Billy remained tense for the remainder of that year, they also fixed their differences shortly before Billy’s death in early 2020. As Matt affirmed, he sensed it was time to reconcile when his father’s health went downhill.
While it’s heartwarming to think Matt and Billy were on good terms before the death of the patriarch, it’s also sad to think that Amy’s relationship with her eldest son took a turn for the worse afterwards.
What Happened To Billy?
As it’s obvious enough, the Brown family has faced many difficult situations in recent years. First, Amy Brown was diagnosed with lung cancer with which she struggled for a couple of years.
While her miraculous recovery was good news, tragedy soon rang the family’s doorbell when Billy died on 7 February 2021 in Washington State. The first to break the heartbreaking news was Bear Brown, followed by a Discovery representative who described the late man as a ‘trailblazer, a lovely man, and most definitely one of a kind’.
Apparently, Billy had been suffering several health problems for years, which ultimately caused his death from a seizure at 68 years old.
In memory of his late father, Matt shared an Instagram video recalling some of his last moments with Billy, admitting himself as ‘fortunate’ for being able to reconcile before the patriarch’s passing, allegedly finding closure despite the rift between them.
Now that Matt is somewhat alienated from his family, he doesn’t have any material memoires of him. However, to prove that his father is in his heart and mind, Matt showed his followers the recipe of a very singular tomato sauce his late father invented. Although simple, it was a heartwarming way to remember Billy.
Is The Show Fake?
Although “Alaskan Bush People” is a well-loved show by many, others reject it due to its apparent lack of actual reality. Although the reality genre is known for its lack of legitimacy, critiques towards “Alaskan Bush People” are certainly more severe compared to other shows.
As it happens, people’s general distrust about the show has been on the rise for years. Besides pointing out obvious details such as convenient dialogues, settings and some situations perceived as fake by the audience, it’s been suspected for a long time that the Brown family doesn’t live in the bush.
The most tangible proof of it dates back to 2014, when Billy and his son Joshua pleaded guilty to falsification for having faked that they lived in Alaska to obtain dividends from the government, added to the fact the family has been caught staying in a local Alaska hotel during the show’s filming period.
Other allegedly staged scenes have been reported throughout the years, such as a shooting which was never reported, Noah’s fake date with an actress, and the family’s contradicting usage of technology.
https://www.instagram.com/p/5il_nclGAA/
Nonetheless, the strongest of these accusations is the false depiction of the family as financially troubled, when it’s been reported that the Browns are paid quite well by Discovery.
Will The Show Return To TV?
Following Billy Brown’s death in February 2021, many people were afraid the show wasn’t going to continue.
Nonetheless, as understandable as “Alaskan Bush People” worries about the show’s future were, given the circumstances, in September that year the series’ 12th season premiered, but it wasn’t like previous ones.
Besides the obvious absence of Billy, the audience teared-up as the Brown family remembered their most precious moments with the late patriarch. However, it was also very evident that Matt’s scenes were cut out, despite him being a constant presence in the series during the first eight seasons.
Although the future of “Alaskan Bush People” doesn’t seem to be in danger for the moment, Matt’s return seems unlikely for now, unfortunate or not.
