Meri Brown and her Wet Bar of Tears

[DakotaJustice]

Well, JO's smart enough to photoshop and has been ripping people off for some time, but just like the Browns, doesn't think things through to their logical outcome.  IMO she's just your typical fraudster who thinks they're smarter than everyone else...until they get caught

And I just had to ETA to say to Celia - yup, I hope that the real dude actually speaks out on this.  I'd LOVE to know what his thoughts are.

Edited May 18, 2016 by DakotaJustice

[toodles]

2 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

Well, JO's smart enough to photoshop and has been ripping people off for some time, but just like the Browns, doesn't think things through to their logical outcome.  IMO she's just your typical fraudster who thinks they're smarter than everyone else...until they get caught.

Karma catches up with everyone eventually.  And karma's a bitch.

[Christina]

Shaant has been a suspect for the photo for many months now. If I remember the correctly, JO was catfishing a young man with photos of some other young girl she was also catfishing. That young man saw Shaant on the street somewhere, and got some candid photos with him and some of his friends, which he sent to JO, and JO then used them to catfish someone else. Like, "Here is a photo of me and my friends hanging out and we ran into a musician!" to make him seem more real. Many of the photos JO uses are models and actors. 

One of the men in the Shaant photos tipped the girl off that it was he and his friends in the photo with a singer named Shaant, and not the man she thought she was talking to. I think that one of the men in the photos was the brother of someone who was FB friends with the catfish victim, but honestly, it's been too long and was a bit too convoluted to follow, especially since I had already decided Meri had buried her head in the sand. Those photos were taken several years ago, and the female victim of the Shaant photos has been vocal on Twitter during the Meri scandal, because that is when I read it. Shaant's photos were used to catfish her, her photos were used to catfish other men, and so on and so forth. JO is a prolific catfisher who juggles several people at once using other victims identities, facts and photos.

Every photo dredged up by people that was posted by JO as Sam during the Meri saga have been men in their 20's. Not one would pass for 40. One of the commenters on AATT claims Shaant was asked months ago and said that it isn't him. However, I should note that I think that commenter is JO herself. That same person has claimed to have submitted info to AATT in the past, and some of the comments seem like info she would have received from Meri while pretending to be Sam, but could just be another run-of-the-mill liar, it's hard to tell on the internet, and I don't read AATT very often because my virus and ad software hate it.

[Roslyn]

I was cruising the tweet feed over at CJ's blog and this popped up.  So....Meri is going to be on with Nev!? For real??

[AZChristian]

It should be interesting.  But Nev tends to go very easy on "victims" . . . I'd rather see him take on JO.

[LilWharveyGal]

41 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

It should be interesting.  But Nev tends to go very easy on "victims" . . . I'd rather see him take on JO.

Totally.  Now if it were Max I might hold out hope that he would cut through some of her nonsense.  But I expect this to be about as enlightening as their "tell-all" interviews.

[SometimesBites]

Yeah. It'll be more focus on Meri-as-victim. Which she IS, but only because she was ready to shake off Kody for Sam, Sam, the Banana Man.

[Misslindsey]

Quote

Totally.  Now if it were Max I might hold out hope that he would cut through some of her nonsense.  But I expect this to be about as enlightening as their "tell-all" interviews.

So true. Max is better at cutting through the bullshit than Nev. On a completely shallow note, I just really like watching Max. 

[CofCinci]

Wet bar full of tears tonight.

[Kohola3]

Oh, gag.  What a crock.

[SometimesBites]

"...and don't forget, you two: THIS is your anniversary. The day you got pretend married for the TLC cameras--NOT the day you usurped my position as legal wife. Just a piece of paper, remember??"

[toodles]

9 hours ago, SometimesBites said:

"...and don't forget, you two: THIS is your anniversary. The day you got pretend married for the TLC cameras--NOT the day you usurped my position as legal wife. Just a piece of paper, remember??"

You forgot to add "And tossed me aside for a younger model as well as your favorite piece of ass."

[Evanscody]

On May 2, 2016 at 11:12 AM, SuzWhat said:

I, uh, can't seem to get to 'notbatmanyet dot com'.    I, uh, don't check it, uh, everyday or anything.   

Oh dear... I'm wondering down this rathole myself!

[MamaMax]

Is Meri claiming that they tried to blackmail her?

[Galloway Cave]

She claims "they" were threatening her and the family. That is why she kept talking and texting Sam, and she felt like she couldn't tell her family what was going on. Her story is so ridiculous and stupid. What exactly were "they" threatening to do that Meri thought her ONLY option (out of all the options she had, like ignoring JO or going to the police) was to send all those sexy selfies and banana-blowing pics? She has never come out and said what the threats were. I don't think there were any threats. I think the only fear Meri had, as everything blew up in her face, was that JO would do exactly what she did, release the voice mails, texts and pics.

[beesknees]

Okay, I just watched the Meri/Catfish episode.  I'm older than Meri.  I've never had an online relationship or dated online and I even know what the hell the term "catfish" means.  I don't buy it that Meri has never, ever, heard the term.  I mean, Meri's not living in a bubble and there are tons of teenagers/college aged kids running around that family constantly texting and on social media.  I'm sorry.  I just don't buy it.

7 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

She claims "they" were threatening her and the family. That is why she kept talking and texting Sam, and she felt like she couldn't tell her family what was going on. Her story is so ridiculous and stupid. What exactly were "they" threatening to do that Meri thought her ONLY option (out of all the options she had, like ignoring JO or going to the police) was to send all those sexy selfies and banana-blowing pics? She has never come out and said what the threats were. I don't think there were any threats. I think the only fear Meri had, as everything blew up in her face, was that JO would do exactly what she did, release the voice mails, texts and pics.

Okay, wait a minute.  I admit I have not watched any episodes of SW last season so I'm kind of catching up.  Are you telling me Meri sent this "guy" banana-blowing pics?  WTF?

Edited May 30, 2016 by beesknees

[Galloway Cave]

Well, there was one pic of a banana, then another one of her suggestively eating it. Not full-on blowing, but still. Why would an adult woman send a guy a pic of her eating a banana? 

[SunnyBeBe]

I was afraid that Meri was going to break out in tears when Mariah asked her why her eyebrows were so thin, but, she didn't.  She kind of ignored it.  I didn't realize that Meri did draw on her brows.  Do you think she shaves her real one?  What happened to them?

[Kohola3]

Quote

What happened to them?

The toxic self tanning lotion dissolved them.

[SometimesBites]

14 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Well, there was one pic of a banana, then another one of her suggestively eating it. Not full-on blowing, but still. Why would an adult woman send a guy a pic of her eating a banana? 

The banana picture was clearly intended to be titillating, as were the several cleavage shots and the bubble bath shots.Did Sam the BatFish put a metaphorical gun to Meri's head and force her to scratch "Sam" into her leg?? What a load of horseshit. The really do think their viewers are morons. Fugghedaboudit, Meri. Everybody's onto you, honey.

[CofCinci]

Hypothetical/alternative universe-type question for the group...

Say "Samuel Cooper" was a real man and Meri ran off with him as planned, do you think she would have been invited to Maddie's wedding today?

[AZChristian]

 They might have invited Meri, but I doubt they would have added "+1" to the invitation.

[RazzleberryPie]

If he'd been real, she would've rsvpd no, and would have been sure to tell them he was taking her for a romantic cruise on his yacht made of diamonds.

[Meowwww]

I am still dying over the juxtaposition of her "sultry" banana pics and Mariah talking about how she wants her mom to help her pick out bananas. 

[missy jo]

Someone reiterated in the episode thread how Jenelle divorced Meri's brother and then married her husband. I mean, when I read that back a few times, I'm stunned. That's batshit crazy and sleazy af!

No wonder Meri despises her. I would! I can't cede Jenelle the high ground on anything, considering that. Funny how they get the vapors over the possibility of Logan living in sin, but divorce is no biggie. Such a convenient religion. 

[CofCinci]

Meri breast feeding Maddie...  So that's new info...  

[laurakaye]

Does anyone know more details of the Meri/Janelle situation?  I am trying to figure out how in the world Janelle divorces Meri's brother and then marries Meri's husband.  Assuming Meri and her brother had a good relationship, wouldn't Meri have been like, "OH NO YOU DON'T" about going after Kody, post-divorce?  It seems that Meri would side with her brother here, even if she'd known Janelle for years.  What I am wondering is if Kody told Meri, "Janelle is my next wife, deal with it?"  And that's where the problems started between the two of them?  And why would Janelle even consider her ex sister-in-law's husband as a viable mate?  

I wish they would speak honestly about this.  I can't believe that Meri would be okay with bringing Janelle into her marriage, that Janelle would go after Kody in the first place, and that Kody wouldn't think twice about how Meri and Janelle were once related.  It's all so weird.  There's got to be more to it.

[andromeda331]

I could see Meri showing up anyways to show off her man and her new amazing life. I can't see her wanting to pass up a chance to rub it in all their faces.

[Galloway Cave]

Quote

What I am wondering is if Kody told Meri, "Janelle is my next wife, deal with it?"

Pretty much this. If I remember correctly, Janelle decided she wanted Kody and pursued him. They had lunch together where they discussed marriage. Then Kody told Meri he was marrying Janelle. Meri was blindsided on all fronts. Of course she had agreed to polygamy and despite the way it has been portrayed in this and other shows (the wife picks the other wives or the wife picks are family-concensual), the majority of the time the husband decides who he is marrying and just does it.

[laurakaye]

So now, I am really questioning why Janelle would pursue her ex-sister-in-law's husband.  I suppose in polygamy everyone ends up kind of related anyway, but Janelle wasn't raised that way, so why go after Kody in the first place?  It just seems that there were boundaries that Janelle had no problem stepping over.  Plus, didn't she know Meri from before she was married to Kody?  Did she not get a taste of Meri's personality back then?  If Janelle is supposedly the passive person she claims to be, why marry into Meri and Kody's family?  Unless Kody's hold over Meri was so strong that Meri falsely welcomed Janelle with open arms because that's what Kody told her to do...in which case, Kody is a bigger jerk than I thought possible.  And that's saying something.

Something about this triangle fascinates me.  I may need to step away for awhile and watch the Kardashians to clear my head........

Edited June 6, 2016 by laurakaye

[QueBueno]

3 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Does anyone know more details of the Meri/Janelle situation?  I am trying to figure out how in the world Janelle divorces Meri's brother and then marries Meri's husband.  Assuming Meri and her brother had a good relationship, wouldn't Meri have been like, "OH NO YOU DON'T" about going after Kody, post-divorce?  It seems that Meri would side with her brother here, even if she'd known Janelle for years.  What I am wondering is if Kody told Meri, "Janelle is my next wife, deal with it?"  And that's where the problems started between the two of them?  And why would Janelle even consider her ex sister-in-law's husband as a viable mate?  

I wish they would speak honestly about this.  I can't believe that Meri would be okay with bringing Janelle into her marriage, that Janelle would go after Kody in the first place, and that Kody wouldn't think twice about how Meri and Janelle were once related.  It's all so weird.  There's got to be more to it.

As I understand their whackadoo beliefs, the woman gets some kind of sign from God that tells her who she is supposed to marry.  So I'm not sure Meri would have had any input into Kody marrying Janelle.  If God wants you to marry your brother's ex, who are you to question?

[Tabbygirl521]

I wonder if Meri was as outspoken and blunt back when Jenelle joined the family. She seems to have little trouble speaking her mind now - except if it might upset Kody, apparently. I wonder if years of frustration from having to tap dance around His Hairness has warped her personality at all. I only started watching this show in earnest last season so I have missed a lot. 

I can see how a person could become really passive-aggressive in this atmosphere. And being the recipient of that can feel just as bad as getting screamed at. I can understand Jenelle just withdrawing. 

Is Meri ever really blunt about anything deep? She seems to pride herself in telling it like it is, but it looks to me like that's true mainly when the emotional stakes aren't too high  

I have no point, here. I am just musing on the interesting dynamics between them all. 

Edited June 6, 2016 by Tabbygirl521

[StayingAfterSunday]

1 hour ago, laurakaye said:

So now, I am really questioning why Janelle would pursue her ex-sister-in-law's husband.  I suppose in polygamy everyone ends up kind of related anyway, but Janelle wasn't raised that way, so why go after Kody in the first place?  It just seems that there were boundaries that Janelle had no problem stepping over.  Plus, didn't she know Meri from before she was married to Kody?  Did she not get a taste of Meri's personality back then?  If Janelle is supposedly the passive person she claims to be, why marry into Meri and Kody's family?  Unless Kody's hold over Meri was so strong that Meri falsely welcomed Janelle with open arms because that's what Kody told her to do...in which case, Kody is a bigger jerk than I thought possible.  And that's saying something.

Something about this triangle fascinates me.  I may need to step away for awhile and watch the Kardashians to clear my head........

I, too, wondered about all of these things and more....   One explanation for Jenelle's decision to marry her ex-sister-in-law's husband:  Maybe there wasn't that sort of closeness between Meri and the brother (Jenelle's ex).  The sister wives seem to pride themselves on being unique in their abilities to bond with one anther and operate as one cohesive unit.  If Meri's polygamous upbringing lacked that particular type of unity it is possible that the brother who married Jenelle was actually a half brother of Meri's and one with whom she was not particularly close.  It's possible, too, that she didn't care enough about him to take offense to Jenelle's divorcing him. 

Regardless of the truth re: the above, there is still the big question surrounding Meri's feelings once Jenelle joined her and Kody in the marital bed, so to speak. Meri admits to being jealous. Perhaps she really did have little, if any, say in Kody's decision to bring Jenelle into the fold. I can see where Meri, to this day, holds some resentment towards Jenelle.  How could she not? 

Polygamous relationships cannot possibly breed healthy emotions in the "participants."  It may be natural for a man to want a different wife for different purposes, but it's not a prudent decision for him to act on those inclinations. In reality, giving in to our feelings is a short-term solution to our basic impulses. It doesn't work, despite what the sister wives profess. 

What I just don't get is how Christine and Jenelle, who are both Kody's "spiritual wives," can suddenly appear to be so accepting of Robyn, who has now become Kody's only legal (i.e. "real" wife).  But that's a whole other topic for another section of this forum, no doubt.

Edited June 6, 2016 by StayingAfterSunday

[Galloway Cave]

Quote

So now, I am really questioning why Janelle would pursue her ex-sister-in-law's husband. 

I'm going to go with the obvious- she got the major hots for Kody while she was married to Adam, she divorced Adam and converted to AUB and pushed for a marriage to Kody. Janelle doesn't seem to mind being a part-time wife or having a part-time husband. She DOES like having what she calls a stud husband who is amazing in every way /barf/. She was stunned to find out that being a sister wife was pretty horrifying, especially when Meri turned out to be a whacko. She still hasn't really recovered from that but at least she still has the "stud" husband /barf/. As someone said in one of these threads, when she moved away from the family for three years, she didn't move away from Kody, she moved away from Meri.

With the plygs I knew, all but one of them grew up in regular religions. They all became polygamous because they became fell in love with the patriarch and his philosophies. He was a charming, charismatic man. It can happen. (As I mentioned in the episode thread, they also recruited their sorority sisters to the family because they liked having their BFFs around). 

[SongbirdHollow]

Don't forget Janelle's mom is married to Kody's dad as well.

 

and Maddie just married his nephew by marriage or something like that. It's wacko.

Edited June 6, 2016 by SongbirdHollow

[CofCinci]

And she was homeless.  (Sorry, I'm not buying into her 'I wanted to live in a tee-pee and didn't last the night' revisionist bullshit.  She was homeless and Kody's father wouldn't let her stay inside their home).

[laurakaye]

2 hours ago, CofCinci said:

And she was homeless.  (Sorry, I'm not buying into her 'I wanted to live in a tee-pee and didn't last the night' revisionist bullshit.  She was homeless and Kody's father wouldn't let her stay inside their home).

This is exactly why I kind of hate myself for wondering about this family's dynamics, because we are never going to get a straight, honest story from any of them.  I never bought the tee-pee story either, but it's just so odd, I don't even know where to begin...Janelle wanted to live in a tee pee and Winn said, hey, camp out on my lawn, and Janelle can't make it through one single night?  I can't remember the rest of the story...did she get cold and crawl into bed with Kody to stay warm or was Kody married by then?

[greekmom]

20 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

I'm going to go with the obvious- she got the major hots for Kody while she was married to Adam, she divorced Adam and converted to AUB and pushed for a marriage to Kody. Janelle doesn't seem to mind being a part-time wife or having a part-time husband. She DOES like having what she calls a stud husband who is amazing in every way /barf/. She was stunned to find out that being a sister wife was pretty horrifying, especially when Meri turned out to be a whacko. She still hasn't really recovered from that but at least she still has the "stud" husband /barf/. As someone said in one of these threads, when she moved away from the family for three years, she didn't move away from Kody, she moved away from Meri.

With the plygs I knew, all but one of them grew up in regular religions. They all became polygamous because they became fell in love with the patriarch and his philosophies. He was a charming, charismatic man. It can happen. (As I mentioned in the episode thread, they also recruited their sorority sisters to the family because they liked having their BFFs around). 

Which makes Janelle pretty stupid or pretty naive. If she wanted to pursue Kody then she really needed to get the green light from the first wife especially due to the fact she was previously married to the legal wife's brother.  Well you reap what you sow in both the cases of Meri and Janelle. 

[Galloway Cave]

33 minutes ago, greekmom said:

Which makes Janelle pretty stupid or pretty naive.

They all are pretty stupid or naive. Christine witnessed firsthand how devastating polygamy was for her mother, who eventually left the church. Yet Christine waxes poetically about polygamy, sister wives, why she wants to be #3, etc. Kody is in it to prove something to his father but doesn't have a clue how to deal with multiple women and their needs. Meri grew up polygamous but had no idea how hard it would be to live in a polygamous marriage, complete with the emotions. Robyn talks the game of polygamy but until Kody, had never lived a polygamous marriage and only lived with one other sister mom in her later years. She really isn't living polygamy now; she has a husband all to herself and three shell-shocked sister wives who can't believe Kody has turned their lives upside down. I don't know if they are just that clueless about their religion or they actually thought they could have a regular monogamous relationship with sister wife perks. 

[CofCinci]

It's been a few months since I visited wacko Jacko's batman blog.  Looks like "Lindsey" is now writing a book too about her friendship with Meri.  Pre-order for $10.

[Galloway Cave]

Wait- wasn't "Sam's" book only $6? The Gal Pal gets to ask for more for her book? What a whacko.

[Mya]

I hope someone reads it and gives a recap.

[Galloway Cave]

Well, The Bullshit Bookclub reviewed the last one, so hopefully she will take one for the team and review the next one too!

http://bullshitbookclub.blogspot.ca/2016/01/chapter-1-how-did-this-happen-to-me_25.html

[DakotaJustice]

41 minutes ago, Galloway Cave said:

Well, The Bullshit Bookclub reviewed the last one, so hopefully she will take one for the team and review the next one too!

http://bullshitbookclub.blogspot.ca/2016/01/chapter-1-how-did-this-happen-to-me_25.html

I don't think she reviewed "Almost Defame'd" but then again I doubt anyone was able to read that drivel in its entirety. 

[Galloway Cave]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Is it available anywhere online?

[DakotaJustice]

2 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Is it available anywhere online?

Probably. It was available somewhere for awhile (on YouTube I think) and I managed to read some of it before "Sam's" attorneys had it pulled. Pointless drivel.

[BradandJanet]

"Sam" would get more interest by letting Defame'd leak on the internet. No one cares enough to pay for this nonsense. 

[SometimesBites]

On 6/24/2016 at 11:39 AM, Galloway Cave said:

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Is it available anywhere online?

Here's "Sam's" author page on Amazon with both "books." For a while Amazon took away the buy button due to reports of "issues" with the quality of the book. Not sure how that was rectified, but regardless, these are absolutely the lowest rated books I've ever, ever seen on Amazon; the De'famed "book" has 92% 1 star reviews--pretty much universally despised. Color me shocked.

Another issue is with how she priced the them. De'famed is only 70 pages, but Jackie has it priced at $10! There is a terrible (and hilarious) irony in that price point, a fact that the greedy dumbass apparently doesn't understand--in her desire to rip off the public she's actually losing money. I won't elaborate on her error, so as to avoid letting any light into her belfry on the matter, but it's a typical case of arrogance and greed trumping basic common sense.

[CofCinci]

Oh, Meri.  That's not why Robyn and Christine are now "super close."

[Celia Rubenstein]

What is the point of that tweet? What is Meri trying to accomplish or communicate? It seems rather random. I sense some kind of purpose but I can't figure out what it is. Is she trying to explain away something or throw subtle shade somehow?