Discovery Channel's long-running reality series Alaskan Bush People kicked off its twelfth season in August, but a recent story about one of the show's former stars has started making bigger waves than the new episodes. Two women went public with accusations that Matt Brown, one of the five sons of Billy and Ami Brown, raped them within days of each other back in 2018. After the allegations made the rounds, a representative from Discovery Channel addressed the issue.
With its statement, Discovery Channel acknowledged that certain people from the network were made aware of the allegations at the time of the reported sexual assault, which came after Matt Brown had vacated Alaskan Bush People in part due to his well-publicized alcohol addiction and rehab visits. Here's that explanation, via The Sun:
Discovery Channel was approached several years ago regarding the allegations, finding them disturbing and very serious. We agreed the local authorities should be contacted immediately. Due to the nature of the accusations we felt that all cooperation would be most appropriately handled by law enforcement.
Jessica Jurges, a former personal assistant to the Brown family, and Shelly Dawn, Matt Brown's own manager, claim they did indeed report their sexual assault complaints to the proper authorities back in 2018. First reported to detectives within the LAPD's Topanga Division, the case later transferred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Unfortunately, Jurges and Dawn expressed disappointment to The Sun over the fact that nothing ended up happening with the case. Following an investigation, DA Jackie Lacey made the decision not to bring prosecution against Brown.
Two years later, both women decided to go public with their rape accusations against Matt Brown as a way of seeking out justice and to bring to light the reality star's alleged criminal behavior. Both women say they have struggled with depression and other issues since the alleged assaults, particularly because Brown has been fairly active posting on social media, sharing some of his art projects and even recently celebrating two years since he went to a Betty Ford Center for his addictions.
It was right around that time, after Matt Brown left that show, that Jessica Jurges claims she was assaulted. Back then, Jurges considered Brown to be a good friend, so she was legitimately interested in his plan to start up an agency together, and visited him at a house in L.A.'s Canoga Park in July 2018. Brown was allegedly drinking vodka all day and talked Jurges into going into the swimming pool with him, despite her inability to swim and fear of water. It's there, she claims, that the rape happened.
Jessica Jurges claimed Matt Brown ripped her bathing suit off and became "monstrous," despite her denials and attempts to fight him off. She says she thought she was going to drown several times during the alleged rape, which she claims went on for over two hours until the aforementioned Shelly Dawn showed up at the pool and realized what was happening. Dawn reportedly pulled Brown off of Jurges by grabbing his hair and shoulder, and after they all vacated the water, Brown allegedly cried and apologized when the two women chastised him.
It was just three days later – July 11 – when Shelly Dawn says she was also violently raped by Matt Brown. It apparently took place at the same location, where Dawn had accompanied him so they could talk about him seeking help for his drinking problem and career. Dawn claims that Brown took advantage of the fact that she'd had a hip replacement, knowing that she lacked strength in her lower body. She said he was "out-of-his-mind drunk" at the time, to the point where he allegedly said that she raped him after it was over. She ended up calling a Lyft to pick her up, and she claims that Brown mistakenly thought it was a police car and was so drunk that he also told the driver that Dawn had raped him.
After the alleged rapes, Jessica Jurges reportedly texted Matt Brown's brothers Bear and Gabe – also stars of Alaskan Bush People – and told them what happened. In messages that were viewed by The Sun, Bear Brown said he would have killed his brother if he'd known how bad things were, while Gabe called him "the biggest fuck up I've ever met."
Discovery Channel series are no strangers to dangerous and/or unfortunate events, with several reality star deaths having occurred in recent years, along with other controversial situations. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more about this case as more information becomes available.
Alaskan Bush People airs Sunday nights on Discovery Channel at 8:00 p.m. ET. While waiting for new eps, stay current with our Fall TV 2020 premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.
