Courtney Stodden called out âSeinfeldâ alum Jason Alexander over a controversial 2012 âFunny or Dieâ sketch she filmed with him when she was underage.
âI was 17 years old in this photo,â Stodden began, sharing an image of Alexander holding an iPhone against her breast. In the snap, the actor â who was 52 at the time â is wearing a polo and blazer while Stodden is clad in a skimpy bikini.
âThe older I get, the more impossible this is to understand,â Stodden continued, recalling how Alexander ârepeatedly rubbed his phone across my breast while saying there was âno signalâ in my head but âplenty of signalâ in my chest.â
Stodden added that later in the sketch, the Emmy- and Tony-winning actor âjoked that when I turn 18 heâd like to take me behind the couch and âhave his wayâ with me.â
Alexander, now 66, is listed as a writer on the sketch, titled âThe Don Clay Show with Courtney Stodden,â in addition to starring in it alongside Stodden and her then-husband, Doug Hutchison, according to IMDb.âAs an adult, that fact has become harder â not easier â for me to understand. I was a minor,â Stodden said. âI didnât have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate. The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to Doug.ââThe production moved forward. I was the only child in the room,â she added. âI felt so alone.â
Stodden, now 31, said she doesnât see the sketch as comedy looking back on it 14 years later.
âI see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke,â she explained. âPeople still say, âYou chose to be there.â Legally, I couldnât make those decisions for myself. Thatâs the point.â
âI canât change what happened to me but I can ask myself: How did so many adults look at a minor and decide this was acceptable?â she concluded her post. âThatâs exactly why I speak out today. Children deserve laws that protect them. They shouldnât have to become adults before realizing the law should have protected them all along.â
In a statement to Page Six, Stodden said: âAt 17, I was a minor working in an environment where the adults around me were responsible for my safety and well-being. Looking back as an adult, I see those experiences very differently than I did at the time.â
âMy reason for speaking out now isnât about revisiting the past for its own sake⌠itâs about helping create a future where children are better protected and where adults in positions of power are held to a higher standard,â she added.
In his own statement to Page Six, Alexander said, âLooking 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.ââBut more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden,â he added. âI offer her my sincerest apologies.âIn recent years, Stodden has branded Hutchison a âpredatorâ and âpedophileâ for marrying her when she was 16 and he was 51 â a union that sparked controversy when they tied the knot in 2011.
The âGreen Mileâ actor, now 66, has dismissed his ex-wifeâs claim.
Stodden filed for divorce from Hutchison in 2018 and their divorce was finalized in 2020.
These days, Stodden is married to film and TV producer Jared Safier and is using her platform to advocate for the passing of AB 1267, a bipartisan bill that would set the minimum age for marriage to 18 with no exceptions in California.
Stoddenâs mother gave permission for Hutchison to marry her daughter â something Stodden has said her mother has repeatedly apologized for allowing to happen.
The âCelebrity Big Brotherâ alum told Page Six experiences like hers with Alexander on the 2012 âFunny or Dieâ sketch are why she advocates for the legislationâs passage, as she believes âwe need broader conversations about how minors are treated and protected in the entertainment industry and beyond.â





