Kody Brown has sparked some debate amongst his costars on season 4 of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
In August 2025, cast member Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia revealed that there was some drama behind the scenes between her and the Sister Wives star.
“Let’s just say I didn’t know who he was while filming,” she wrote via her Instagram Story during a fan Q&A in which she was asked whether it was awkward to film with Brown. “And we didn’t necessarily ~get along well~ lmao you will see.”
During Special Forces, celebrity contestants are put through challenges that real United States Special Forces hopefuls must complete if they want to join the military. Season 4 of the reality show stars Brown, LaPaglia, Brittany Cartwright, Randall Cobb, Chanel Iman, Ravi Patel, Christie Pearce Rampone, Johnny Manziel, Eva Marcille, Jessie James Decker, Nick Young, Jussie Smollett, Teresa Giudice, Gia Giudice, Andrew East, Eric Decker, Shawn Johnson East and Mark Estes.
Brown, who garnered attention for his polygamist lifestyle in the TLC show Sister Wives, made headlines when he ignored Gia and LaPaglia during a Special Forces challenge that aired in October 2025.
“I have been known for my intense personality,” he explained in an episode. “I am the loud, obnoxious type and not the strong, silent type.”
Keep scrolling to see what the Special Forces cast members have said about Brown:
Jussie Smollett
After Smollett left Special Forces due to an illness, he addressed some awkward moments he had on the show with Brown.
“All jokes aside, he didn’t know me then. I didn’t know about his show,” he shared with Us Weekly in October 2025. “The night before I was Googling people. But I didn’t experience that from him. Any thought [he may have had about me] — if he had thoughts about me or certain thoughts or a narrative that he had in his head — I respect the man because he didn’t let me know that.”
Smollett explained that “people are entitled to their own thoughts.”
“I got my own thoughts, so why wouldn’t I expect someone to have theirs?” he said. “We’re all grown here. We’ve all been through things. So at the end of the day, I take that all in stride. I don’t think that he was trying to set any sort of narrative.”
The actor noted that the interviews on the show are done “like three days” before the tasks start.
“I don’t take those things personally,” he told Us. “As soon as he knew my name, then I got my dukes up.”
Gia Giudice
In September 2025, Gia revealed that people “obviously had some issues” with Brown.
“There were just scenarios — which you guys will see on Special Forces — where, maybe, he wasn’t being the best team player and he wasn’t looking out for the people who were on his team and more so just looking out for himself and the end goal to win,” she shared with Us. “When you have other people on your team, we’re trying our best and we’re struggling a little bit. Let us catch our breath. We lost this one already; let’s just make it up the hill smoothly. There were just some things where I think a couple of the cast members were like, ‘OK.’”
Gia noted that despite the drama, there is “no beef” between her and Brown.
“I think we’re all kind of just like, ‘It’s OK.’ But I wouldn’t say that he was the best team player in certain situations,” she explained. “I think he was trying to be, and then at certain points things would pop out and then they would get some people a little annoyed. But we really had such an amazing cast.”
Gia added that Brown “did help” her during some of the challenges.
“No matter what, we all stuck together,” she said. “In the end, we were all looking out for each other.”
Shawn Johnson East
The Olympian opened up on her dynamics with the cast, including whether she got annoyed with Brown.
“Let me just say this in general as a whole — so this has nothing to do with Kody, but there were so many different personalities and styles,” she said in an Instagram Story Q&A in October 2025. “A lot of us probably wouldn’t have gotten along outside the show, but I will say there was not a single person casted on that show that I would not have trusted with my life in the middle of a challenge.”
Johnson East shared that they “got mixed up into different teams” very often, so she “got to interact with every single person.”
“When it came to being really vulnerable and scared, every single person had my back and vice versa,” she said. “So, even if we all got annoyed with each other based on different styles, I still would put them on my team.”
Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia
LaPaglia said she “didn’t know” who Brown was while they were filming Special Forces — but they didn’t “get along” too well.
“Let’s just say I didn’t know who he was while filming,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in August 2025. “And we didn’t necessarily ~get along well~ lmao you will see.”
