The "Alaskan Bush People" are starting this new season off with a bang after Ami Brown's mother and brother recently opened up with claims about Billy Brown being extremely controlling over Ami. The news hit the headlines the day after the much anticipated "Alaskan Bush People" season premiere aired. Ami was a child bride, as she was just a kid of 15 and still in hight school when she married a much older Billy Brown.
The mom and brother of Ami Brown recently talked with a media outlet and spilled the beans on how their relationship with Ami changed drastically after Ami hooked up with Billy Brown.
When Ami married Billy, who is now known as the patriarch of the "Alaskan Bush People" brood, he immediately took control over his new and very young wife, claims her family.
'Deception and lies'
Billy Brown promised to take care of his new wife and encouraged her to finish high school. Instead he scurried off to Alaska with Ami in tow without telling her family. They landed in the Alaskan Bush, where they started a new life off the grid. This new life would become the basis for the "Alaskan Bush People" show decades into the future. According to Radar Online, Earlene Branson and her son Les claim that Ami's long-time marriage to Billy Brown was built on a foundation of "deception and lies."
Billy very controlling of Ami
Just months after they were married Ami's family learned that Ami was not continuing with school.
Billy, who was 26 at the time, basically told her family to mind their own business when they questioned him about this. This was decades before there was even a whisper about an "Alaskan Bush People" television show.
Ami's mother and brother devastated
Les recalls reminding Billy not long after he married Ami that he had promised their mother she would stay in school.
Billy told Les "That's none of your mother's business now." Earlene, who is now 84, recalls what Billy said about Ami at the time, "she belongs to me." While viewers of the "Alaskan Bush People" show see Ami and Billy as a couple very much in love, Ami's mother and brother see their daughter and sister being controlled by Billy Brown.
Ami was whisked away from Texas by Billy as the two set out for Alaska, where all this living off the grid-type life started. Ami's family never knew where she went and they didn't hear from her for over 10 years. The family made "desperate attempts" to get in touch with Ami, but it was to no avail.
Ami was told to keep quiet?
Ami's brother and mother said looking back they remember Billy doing all the talking and Ami didn't say anything unless she was prompted by Billy to do so. A decade ago, Ami did contact her mom to say that Billy was going on a book signing tour that was bringing them to Texas, so they'd stop by.
There was much excitement among Ami's family in anticipation of this promised visit, but it never happened.
Ami's mom and brother found out later that they actually drove right by, but Billy wouldn't let them stop. Have the viewers ever seen a controlling side of the "Alaskan Bush People" patriarch? Yes, for sure they have, especially if you watched Wednesday night's first episode of the new season.
Matt gets daddy's permission?
Matt, who is the eldest of Billy and Ami Brown's brood, decided he wanted to go hunting on his own. This entailed a trip away from his family and home in Browntown. Matt explained to the camera while they were filming this "Alaskan Bush People" episode, how he wanted to go alone and get back to nature. He felt it would help in the healing process. Most would assume he was referring to his recent problem with alcohol, which landed him in rehab.
Matt Brown is in his 30s, so he is not a kid. Still, Billy looked straight into the camera and said he was going to "let" Matt go on this hunting trip. He started rambling on about how you know when one of your kids need something and as a parent you need to let them do that thing that means so much to them. It was odd to hear this said about a grown man.