Is Alaskan Bush People Fake?

Alaskan Bush People follows the story of the Brown family, who live in the wilds of Alaska. It’s kept viewers hooked for 14 seasons, but questions have been raised about how real it is. Could Alaskan Bush People just be fake? Here’s what you need to know.

Is Alaskan Bush People Actually Faked?

Alaskan Bush People hasn’t 100% proven to be fake but, on several occasions, fans have called it out for what they believe to be fakery. Discovery markets the show as reality TV, advertising it as “A unique family of nine chooses to live off the grid in the Alaskan bush.” That’s certainly an intriguing premise, and the implication is that the family is going all in on this, that they live in the Alaskan bush most of the time.

However, as reported by the Anchorage Daily News back in 2014, six members of the family were charged with PFD fraud, receiving $21,000 in payments they weren’t entitled to. Why is that important? Because PFD or Permanent Fund Dividend is only available to those who live in Alaska. The 2024 requirements include

• I was a resident of Alaska during all of calendar year X;
• If absent from Alaska for more than 180 days, I was absent on an allowable absence; and

In other words, you have to live in Alaska. But Scott Stair, investigations manager with the Alaska Department of Revenue, said that between October 2009 and August 2012, the family did not meet the “physical presence requirement” to receive PFDs. Two of the family pled guilty in exchange for dropping the other charges, but it does suggest that for at least part of the show’s run, they weren’t full-time Alaska residents.

Related: What Happened to Billy on Alaskan Bush People?

Then there’s the show’s claim that “Deep in the Alaskan wilderness there’s recently discovered family that was born and raised wild”. These are the opening words of the first episode, which goes on to say how this family has been separated from mainstream America. However, while the show started airing in 2014, patriarch Billy Brown had already written and published a book in 2007 and another in 2009. That calls into question just how isolated they were.

On top of that, one of the show’s stars, Raiven, has stated it’s fake. As reported by InTouchWeekly, she stated, during an Instagram Live video, that “None of it is real. About 10 percent of it is real. My son is not going down with the show. This show is not real.”

Even some Alaskan locals railed against the family, stating that they, not the Browns had built the cabin, which patriarch Billy Brown denied. And Capital City Weekly mentions the Browns as a family, not just Billy, returning from a book signing in 2008, underlining that the family is not ‘recently discovered’.

Ultimately, there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that Alaskan Bush People is fake, so you should take what you see in the show with a bucket full of salt.

Alaskan Bush People is available to stream on Discovery+.