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No matter how much money you make or how much you fake roughing it on camera, raising your family in the wilderness probably isn’t a great idea.
We’ve reported on numerous issues for the former stars of Alaskan Bush People, from trouble with the law to allegations of serious wrongdoing.
Matt Brown is the latest member of the family to (once again) set off alarm bells. This time, he livestreamed nude while seemingly intoxicated, all while wandering around outdoors.
He does not appear well. But most of the Brown family has cut ties with him. Who can help him now?
He’s been struggling for a while now
During a recent YouTube livestream, Matt — the eldest of the Alaskan Bush People family’s adult children — appeared in a state of undress.
Many social media commenters observed that he seemed to be intoxicated, though obviously we cannot say for sure without medical evidence or his acknowledgment.
Matt, who is in his mid-40s, was wandering through a public park in Washington state during the Tuesday, May 19 broadcast.
The video showed him just sort of rambling at listeners. Rambling livestreams are not uncommon, especially in an age of increasing social isolation for streamers and audiences alike, but this seemed off.
To top it all off, as we mentioned, he at one point appeared to be carrying a gun. All together, it’s a very alarming combination of choices that he has made.
TMZ spoke to sources within the Brown family, and learned that most of them are — by choice — no longer in his life.
Approximately 5 years ago, the family’s late patriarch, Billy Brown, decided that his eldest son’s alleged struggles were too much.
(We know that Matt has publicly discussed his issues with alcohol specifically, but the implication seems to be that there’s more than alcohol involved, which may simply mean mental health.)
Ami Brown, the family matriarch, at first hesitated to cut off contact with her firstborn.
However, it was Matt’s own siblings who convinced her that keeping him at a distance would be better.
His struggles have been an open secret for years
Billy Brown died back in 2021.
The family, and even Alaskan Bush People viewers, had been familiar with Matt’s behavioral struggles for years before that.
These days, TMZ learned, Gabe Brown is the only member of the family who’s still in contact with his eldest brothers.
Even then, the report details, contact is said to be “rare.”
The source likened Matt to a “functional drunk” who could quickly spiral into paranoia and dark thoughts without any warning.
Even when Alaskan Bush People was still running, Matt ended up leaving the show to enter rehab back in 2019.
After that, he moved to rural Washington.
(Remember, the family as a whole relocated multiple times … and, for its final years, Alaskan Bush People filmed in Washington.)
However, Matt has maintained an online presence, one primarily consisting of people who watched his family’s show on Discovery.
Unfortunately, he has a lot of fans worried. It seems that there is little that anyone can do until Matt agrees that he needs help.