Jason Alexander Apologizes to Courtney Stodden for ‘Inappropriate’ Resurfaced Video
What To Know
- Courtney Stodden called out Jason Alexander for acting inappropriately with her in a Funny or Die sketch that was filmed in 2012 when she was 17.
- Alexander issued an apology to Stodden and said he’s sorry for causing her harm and distress.
- Stodden married ex-husband Doug Hutchison when she was 16 and he was 51, and is now fighting for laws to protect minors.
Jason Alexander has issued an apology to Courtney Stodden after she called him out for acting inappropriately in a 2012 Funny or Die sketch they filmed when she was just 17 years old.
“Looking back at the comedy sketch in which Ms. Stodden and I participated in 2012, I completely agree that it was inappropriate and I truly regret it,” the Seinfeld star told TMZ.
The apology came after Stodden shared a still from a sketch that featured Alexander rubbing a cellphone across her breast while she wore a red bikini. In the post’s caption, she pointed out that she was a minor at the time and reflected on filming the video.
“The older I get, the more impossible this is to understand,” Stodden admitted. “During this comedy sketch, Jason Alexander repeatedly rubbed his phone across my breasts while saying there was ‘no signal’ in my head but ‘plenty of signal’ in my chest. Later in the sketch, he said that when I turned 18 he’d like to take me behind the couch and ‘have his way’ with me.”
View this post on Instagram
She revealed that Alexander was one of the writers for the sketch and noted, “I was a minor. I didn’t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate. The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to [ex-husband] Doug [Hutchison].”
Stodden married Hutchison in 2011 when she was 16 and he was 51. She filed for divorce in 2018 and it was finalized in 2020.
Looking back on the Funny or Die sketch, she continued, “I was the only child in the room. I felt so alone. Looking back now, I don’t see comedy. I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke. People still say, ‘You chose to be there.’ Legally, I couldn’t make those decisions for myself. That’s the point.”
While Stodden knows she can’t change what happened in the past, she is questioning how this happened in the first place. “I can ask myself: How did so many adults look at a minor and decide this was acceptable?” she wrote.”That’s exactly why I speak out today. Children deserve laws that protect them. They shouldn’t have to become adults before realizing the law should have protected them all along.”
Conversation7 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Register or sign in to join the conversation.
-
P
Not even a comedy sketch in my opinion..As for claiming she was a child, married at 16 so she can't have been totally dumb. She will have seen the script if there was one, and had a mouth to vocalise and say what was the purpose of it, her husband had to be a svengali type of person to have participated, so all round inappropriate but for the time, Nothing to see here. These days it would be far less appropriate, but it seems like publicity over nothing and water well under the bridge.
-
L
She has a point, but she was a married woman and had been married for a while. They were making money and obviously trading off her looks. Was she a “victim” probably but not of Jason’s sketch, more the system that allowed her to marry a man 3 times her age when she was 16.
-
A
I think we can clearly start the finger pointing at her mother but that certainly does NOT mean that every single adult after her mother is any less guilty. Comedy certainly doesn't make it okay! Where was her advocate? Every child actor should have to have a NON-FAMILIAL advocate with them who is bonded. My husband has to be bonded by the police, to work as a driver for the elderly And thats even after working as a traffic cop) ...certainly child actors are just as vulnerable as the elderly! More so I would hazard to say.
-
J
I dont get it. She certainly wasn't forced to get married to a 51 year old man at 16. She's talking about being a child and being forced to deal with adult stuff. She put herself in that position way before George costanzza
-
J
With that logic, we should let children drink alcohol if they want to and if something happens it’s on them for willingly drinking it. Give them a gun too while you’re at it. You lack critical thinking skills bud
-
T
So you don't understand the concept of grooming. Gotcha.
-
N
She was 16. Not even old enough to join the army or rent a car in any USA state. She was taken advantage of by all the adults in her life.
-
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services