Jason Alexander apologizes to Courtney Stodden for ‘inappropriate’ skit they did when she was 17 - NBC News

Jason Alexander apologized after Courtney Stodden publicly called out the “Seinfeld” star over a lewd 2012 comedy sketch the two made when Stodden was 17. Stodden, a media personality and reality TV star, first drew international attention in 2011 after marrying 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison at age 16. The relationship was later chronicled by the television movie “I Was a Child Bride,” and her public profile led to numerous reality TV appearances, including “Celebrity Big Brother.” Stodden and Hutchison divorced in 2020. On Monday, Stodden revisited a 14-year-old skit she appeared in with Alexander for the Funny or Die media company. She posted an image on Instagram of herself in a bikini — when she 17 years old — as Alexander touched her breast with a cellphone. Part of the caption read, “I was the only child in the room. I felt so alone.” The skit, a parody of “Dr. Phil” and similar daytime talk shows, featured Stodden and Hutchison seeking couple’s therapy from Alexander’s character, Donny Clay. In it, Alexander rubs a cellphone on Stodden’s chest, joking that it is the only place with “full bars.” At another point, while the Clay character is role-playing as Hutchison, Alexander says he would take Stodden behind the couch and “have at you in a number of ways.” “IMDb credits him [Alexander] as one of the writers of the episode,” Stodden wrote in the Instagram post. “As an adult, that fact has become harder — not easier — for me to understand.” Stodden also pushed back on claims that she willingly participated in the sketch. “I was a minor. I didn’t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate,” she wrote. “The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to Doug. The production moved forward.” On Tuesday, Alexander issued an apology to Stodden. “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,” Alexander said in a statement to NBC News. “But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden,” he said. “I offer her my sincerest apologies.” In recent years, Stodden has become an advocate speaking out against child marriage and exploitation within the media industry. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life proving why what happened to me was wrong,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “I want to spend it making sure the next child never has to explain why they deserved protection in the first place.” “If my voice carries any weight today, I want to spend it where it matters most: changing what we accept, changing what we ignore, and changing the laws that decide whether children are protected or left to navigate adult decisions they were never capable of making,” she said.