Rain Brown posted a sweet Valentine’s Day photo of herself “third-wheeling” while her brother locks lips with a woman in the background.
Instead of sweet responses, the comments filled with outrage by women accusing Gabe of cheating — and, in some cases, of having broken their hearts.
It sounds like more women were catfished by Gabe Brown’s imposter than anyone ever realized.
The Brown family has had one hell of a year.
Ami Brown waged a battle against lung cancer that many described as likely to be terminal. Many — from the Browns themselves to fans of the show — weren’t sure if she was going to make it.
But Ami fought hard and could afford the best treatment. After enduring agonizing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, her cancer, though it had spread to both lungs and to her spine, went into remission.
Now Ami Brown is cancer-free, but she’ll need to be vigilant for the rest of her life.
This battle was hard on her. It was also hard on her family, who feared that they might lose their beloved mother.
But that was not the only drama going on in the lives of the Brown family.
Anyone who thinks that Alaskan Bush People is the one show where the family never has that much personal drama clearly isn’t following them on social media.
Last year, and as you can see in the video above, Rain Brown warned of an imposter pretending to be Gabe Brown online.
She issued the catfishing warning and told people that Gabe wasn’t really using his social media at the moment, and that if they received any messages, it wasn’t from him.
There was apparently a woman who even claimed to be his fiancee. Whether this was someone who was catfished or someone who just made it up for attention was always unclear.
Though Gabe just recently broke his social media silence, it was Rain who shared this photo.
That’s Rain, her dog Cupcake, and Gabe with a woman named Raquell Rose.
Rain captioned the pic: “Third wheelin like a pro this V-Day.”
Plenty of the comments were normal — people telling Rain that she’ll date when she’s a little older (she’s barely 15, which is old enough to date in most families, but the lifestyle of the Browns probably makes that hard).
But instead of congratulations towards Gabe’s apparent new relationship, a number of commenters accused Gabe Brown of being a no good dirty cheater.
The comments under that one simple, sweet photo contain about half a year’s drama from any given soap opera.
“How would you feel if a man that you admire and think he’s innocent started to conquer you and enjoyed your company, so you start to feel more beautiful and start to dream be with him and then you see a pic of him kissing someone else maybe a girlfriend?”
This person sounds like they’re describing (in a weird way — “conquer?”) being catfished by Gabe Brown’s imposter.
“And in the same time discovered you were not the only one cause he did it with the other fans too? And you think all of this could be just a joke from him! Just have a little of empathy.”
Another person who had apparently been catfished wrote:
“She never thought it was a relationship! But he messed our feelings, and we didn’t understand why he did it if he had a girlfriend! That’s it!”
More and more people — diehard fans of Alaskan Bush People who apparently missed Rain’s warning about a Fake Gabe (or didn’t believe it, or perhaps it came too late) wrote.
“No, of course I didn’t believe it made a relationship. But when I saw he had a girlfriend and a fan girl commented that he talked things to her I didn’t understand anything in that moment and thought he was a jerk!”
It sounds like that same commenter may believe that Gabe Brown was really flirting with her.
“I felt confuse and disappointed, he’s not that nice guy I thought he was?? Now I can understand him clearly and yes, it’s normal to flirt. Now all this confusion already passed.”
Some people insist that it was really, truly Gabe Brown who stole their hearts.
“People defends him saying we’re all lunatics but the fact is: He was always answering us in a romantic and seductive way and no one can blame us to have hope to think be with him some day. Because he fed this desire on us.”
Again, Rain warned last year that somebody was pretending to be her brother.
“He needs to know which acts lead to consequences, and that having fans is a responsibility. Me as a fan and friend would like him to learn to think more about his actions and then learn to face them.”
Someone else was scandalized that Rain hadn’t deleted the photo out of shame, or something.
“I simply cant believe this is still going on. Or that Rain hasnt deleted it… Or that Gabe hasnt commented at all.”
There were also accusations that Gabe was engaged — he isn’t. Other, more sensible followers, voiced their support.
“Maybe they just started dating?? Still doesn’t mean he owes a bunch of people on the internet any explanation about his private life. That’s all!”
That’s true — not even reality stars owe their fans explanations.
“LOL are you really telling someone on tv that you’ve never met that they owe you an explanation for their lives?”
And others really didn’t like the bonkers accusations that were thrown in Gabe’s direction.
“People assume things too quickly that’s what I don’t like. She could be his girlfriend or she may not, if he wants to say, then he will, I’m personally not worried about it.”
As Rain mentioned last year, Gabe was heartbroken when his relationship didn’t pan out and that’s why he took a break from social media.
It’s wonderful that he’s getting his romantic life back on track.
While it’s tragic that apparently so many women were deceived online, surely Gabe Brown isn’t responsible for the actions of an imposter.
And similarly, he can’t cheat on a fiancee to whom he’s not actually engaged. (No, a rumored photo of two hands wearing rings is not “proof”)
Finally, even if so many people really believe that Gabe is sketchy, is his 15-year-old sister’s Instagram page the place to have this discussion?
It is not.
Rain may be the de facto spokesperson for her family, but her Instagram page is still mostly a place for her to share her thoughts and her photos.
