EXCLUSIVE: Inside Matt Brown's 'Toxic' Relationship With His Estranged Family and Addiction to Cocaine — Before 'Alaskan Bush People' Star's Tragic Death
Matt Brown had a poor relationship with his famous family before his shocking death.
June 2 2026, Published 1:04 p.m. ET
Matt Brown's troubles began long before the former Alaskan Bush People star reportedly committed suicide last week at age 43, RadarOnline.com can report.
The reality show alum battled a crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol that left him ostracized from his famous family, and nearly penniless.
Matt Brown's Tragic End
The 'Alaskan Bush People' star reportedly took his life last week.
Matt's younger brother, Bear, made the devastating announcement online after 911 caller reported they saw a man sitting alone in the Okanogan River in Washington, where Matt lives.
Later, police confirmed they had found a gun near that location. Matt struggled with drugs most of his life and blamed his dad, Billy, for his addiction.
"My dad was basically a biker, so he learned to approach problems like a biker," Matt explained in a 2021 interview. "That got him involved in drugs and made him an aggressive kind of guy."
Drug Use and Abuse
Matt Brown blamed his father, Billy, for introducing him to cocaine.
Matt said eventually, Billy, who died in February 2021 at age 68 after suffering a seizure, got his kids into drugs – specifically cocaine.
"A couple of my other brothers participated in the drug use. We'd do it together," he continued. "At times my dad would give me a bag of cocaine. They used it to control me. It was a toxic relationship with the drugs and my parents."
Matt left his family's reality show in 2019 in order to "survive." He claimed after he threatened to expose his father’s behavior, "He threatened my life. He had a knife in his hand and started coming at me, saying, 'I can have you killed.'
"They were continually afraid that I would tell Discovery and the network would shut [the show] down and the money would stop coming in."
Brother Bear Broke the News
Matt Brown's brother, Bear, revealed the death online.
Matt was the oldest of Billy and his former wife Ami's seven kids. Over the weekend, Bear shared on TikTok that authorities had recovered a body from a river and later identified it as Matt.
Bear spoke candidly about Matt's long-running personal struggles.
"I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself," Bear said. "Honestly, he struggled for a long time as I've mentioned, and I was so worried he was gonna end up, you know, like OD or something like that. I didn't think that he would hurt himself."
"Noah was with them and helped them pull the body out of the water. Noah identified [Matt]," he revealed.
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Concerns for Matt
Concerns for Matt Brown had intensified in recent weeks.
Just days before his body was recovered, concerns about Matt's well-being had intensified. On May 28, Bear revealed that his older brother had been struggling with alcohol and drug addiction and had recently confided that he had relapsed.
According to Bear, one of their most recent interactions came after the two unexpectedly ran into each other at a grocery store.
"He called me after that, and he said that he had fallen off the wagon," Bear recalled. "And I was like, 'Well, get back on it, man. Everybody falls off. Just get back on it. Go to rehab if you've got to. You got this. You've fought it a lot before.'"
The reality star also revealed Matt had been dealing with personal turmoil, explaining: "He'd been going through a really bad breakup" with a woman "he really liked."
"I guess he had been drinking too much. I don't know all the details to it," Bear added. "(I) would've never thought that Matt would take his own life."
