Courtney Stodden has responded to a public apology she received from actor Jason Alexander, whom she recently called out for participating in an inappropriate 2012 comedy sketch that focused on her breasts, despite the fact that she was only 17 at the time it was filmed.
The ‘Seinfeld’ actor issued a public apology for the skit, stating he regrets participating in it. In addition to issuing the apology to Courtney, Jason made a donation to an organization that aims to end child marriage.
In the 2012 “Funny or Die” sketch, Jason portrayed a Dr. Phil McGraw-esque lifestyle coach who was treating Courtney, then 17, and her now-ex-husband Doug Hutchison, then 52. Part of the sketch showed Jason’s character, Donny Clay, using his iPhone to scan Courtney’s breasts to “find out the quality of your heart,” while really photographing them. (This spoofed a real appearance she made on Dr. Drew Pinsky’s show ‘Lifechangers’ when she was 16 to test if she had breast implants.)
“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 actor said in a statement to Variety. “But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden. I offer her my sincerest apologies.”
Courtney brought attention to the sketch in an Instagram post last Monday and took to Instagram again on Friday to acknowledge Jason’s apology and his donation to Unchained at Last, a survivor-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the United States through direct services and systems change.
“I was grateful to learn Jason Alexander sent a beautiful gift to Unchained at Last,” Courtney wrote on Friday. “I want to sincerely thank him for choosing to turn words into action. Accountability isn’t about public punishment—it’s about taking meaningful steps that can help create change.
“My hope has always been bigger than my own story,” Courtney continued. “If difficult conversations can lead to real support for organizations protecting children and ending child marriage, then something positive can come from something deeply painful.
“I hope this becomes the standard,” her post went on. “When harm is acknowledged, meaningful action has the power to help others. That’s how real change begins.”
In her first post about the sketch, Courtney had pointed out how ridiculously inappropriate it was, due to her only being 17.
“The older I get, the more impossible this is to understand,” she wrote. “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 joked that when I turned 18 he’d like to take me behind the couch and ‘have his way’ with me.”
Courtney went on to state that she received no money from doing the sketch, and that she had “no legal power to decide” if she wanted to participate in it or not.
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“The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to Doug. The production moved forward. I was the only child in the room,” she wrote. “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,” Courtney continued. “I can’t change what happened to me but I can ask myself: How did so many adults look at a minor and decide this was acceptable? 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.”
The sketch Courtney made with Jason and her ex-husband is no longer on the “Funny or Die” website or YouTube channel but can still be found online.
Jason is not the first person Courtney has publicly called out for exploiting her when she was a minor. She recently put the spotlight on Dr. Drew Pinsky for allowing her to undergo a breast ultrasound on his TV show while multiple adults, including her husband, looked on. As The Ashley reported, Dr. Drew hasn’t responded to Courtney’s posts. However, Drew’s wife Susan Sailer Pinsky did comment on Courtney’s post, writing, “I would love to talk to her on Ask Dr. Drew if @courtneyastodden wants to duke it out with Dr. Drew.”
Courtney made it clear that she has no interest in appearing on another show with the TV doctor.
“Dr. Drew actually doubled down and had his wife sarcastically invite me on his podcast to further exploit me,” Courtney told Variety.
“Getting an apology from an actor [Jason Alexander] and not a doctor is kind of diabolical,” Courtney added.
Courtney married Doug, an actor best known for his role in “The Green Mile,” with parental permission in 2011 when she was 16 and he was 51. She stated that after their marriage, Doug took control of her media appearances. This included appearances on ‘Couples Therapy’ as well as the strange 2016 show ‘The Mother/Daughter Experiment’ (in which Courtney’s mother expressed that she had fallen in love with Doug during Courtney’s marriage to him.)
“I was very manipulated,” she told Variety. “Even if I didn’t look like a child, or what a ‘victim’ should look like, there was a child buried under there. I really just trusted the adults around me, and this is the effect of that. Looking back on it, it’s really damaging. This isn’t about revisiting my past but changing the experiences for minors going forward so they don’t have to experience what I had to experience.”
(Photos: YouTube; Instagram)
14 Responses
Glad Courtney was able to get on the other side of this. I knew this was messed up at the time. I couldn’t (and still can’t) wrap my mind around a parent basically selling their child to a grown man. The way that poor girl was treated was horrifying.
And I’m glad Jason gave her an actual apology.
It sounds silly to say but I can’t help but be proud of her. She was abused and exploited on multiple reality shows. Her mother signed away her daughter to a perverted old man. Her mother went one step further on a reality show and confessed to having romantic feelings for this pervert. If ANY adult tried to get with my teenager this would be an entirely different story.
Courtney has truly been through a lot. She uses her platform for change and that’s impressive. I’m glad that she calls people out like nasty Chrissy Tiegan who literally direct messaged her as a teenager and made fun of her and told her to kill herself both publicly and in Courtney’s DM’s.
And Dr. Drew is disgusting. Sounds like his wife is just like him.
I totally agree with you. I still can’t believe Chrissy Teigen said that. And she gave some fake ass apology and blamed it on her drinking. She didn’t take any accountability. And she barely got canceled. I think this is so messed up. I don’t understand how she just got away with these comments. I don’t care how drunk you are, saying Courtney should have killed herself is completely unacceptable and really messed up.
So are we to assume that Chrissy is really a nice person, unless she’s drunk? Which would have been 24/7 because Chrissy said these hateful things REPEATEDLY. No excuse Chrissy, you’re just a bully
Doesn’t surprise me that she said what she said. Chrissy Teigan is a washed up, average, D- list (at best) “celebrity” bully. The only reason people know her, is because of her husband or because of the stupid ass things she does and says. Her over-inflated ego is fascinating considering no one else thinks of her in the esteem in which she sees herself.
And reason number 107 why Dr Drew shouldn’t be hosting a show called Hollywood Demons. He should have an episode about him instead. Shame on Investigation Discovery for putting the fox in the hen house. Dr Drew has his own demons that need exposed, as a so called doctor. Scary.
This, totally agree. It sounds like his wife is on his own slimy level, and wants to use a victim to make even more money as is their modus operendi.
I also agree with Caitlin comment on phrasing it as accountability. Im glad people are acknowledging how effed up everybody treated a teen Courtney because her parents signed off. I wish shed had someone to protect her.
Dr. Drew IS a Hollywood demon.
Right??? I’ve always thought he should be starring in an episode, before hosting a show about other people who, in some cases, he did worse than. Not that it’s a competition, it’s just bizarre to me that he gets away with everything he’s said & done – to the point where he’s literally hosting a show about other people being “Hollywood demons”! If nothing else, he certainly exploited numerous teenage girls in crisis like the Ashley just said. Just watch a Teen Mom reunion, if you haven’t. Those girls were 16-17 at the time, mothers and in many cases had – and were still having – their own messed up childhoods and were in the midst of their own crises whether it was addiction, mental illness, whatever. And he participated in a show that allowed both mothers and babies to continue to suffer bc “they’re a documentary, they don’t get involved in calling CPS etc”.
Hollywood demons indeed…
So are we to assume that Chrissy is really a nice person, unless she’s drunk? Which would have been 24/7 because Chrissy said these hateful things REPEATEDLY. No excuse Chrissy, you’re just a bully
I remember judging Courtney 15 years ago when I was seeing all those headlines with her and Doug. I really wish I didn’t. I was much younger with a young mind, and way less equipped to see that she was a victim due to my own lack of life experience. It’s truly inspiring to see her overcome such pain and adversity and use her platform to help others in need, especially after the world condemned the wrong person. I feel like everyone can learn something from her situation. Truly wish her all the happiness, she deserves it.
I think I’m older than you, but when i was younger I judged other people by the screwed up standards i had instilled in me. As i grew up and started figuring out my own beliefs and deconstructed others I looked back on past things and cringed.
But better to have grown, learned, and cringed, than to never have grow and hold the same views to avoid internal discomfort, or outer pressure to confirm to things that harm others.
100%!
I really like what Courtney had to say about accountability not being a public punishment. I’m glad that this situation had a better ending than a lot of the other “apologies “ she has gotten. Also her saying her story is bigger than her is a really good point. She’s not trying to take the spotlight, but share the activism. It shows a lot of wisdom on her part and I wish her the best.