Courtney Stodden says she felt 'manipulated' during 2012 comedy sketch
After Jason Alexander's public apology, Courtney Stodden says her focus remains on protecting minors
Courtney Stodden has shared more details about her experience filming the controversial 2012 Funny or Die sketch, saying she felt "very manipulated" while participating in the production as a 17-year-old.
The 31-year-old media personality reflected on the sketch in a new interview with Variety, revealing she was shocked when she later realised it appeared to recreate a scene from the 1990 film Pretty Woman.
“I was in shock,” Courtney said.
“It felt very close to home, and like he pulled from Pretty Woman and thought it would be funny to recreate that with a child. I didn’t know he was going to be feeling me up on set.”
The sketch featured Seinfeld star Jason Alexander alongside Courtney and her then-husband Doug Hutchison, whom she married in 2011 when she was 16 and he was 51.
Looking back, Courtney said she trusted the adults around her and now views the experience very differently.
“I was very manipulated. Even if I didn’t look like a child, or what a ‘victim’ should look like, there was a child buried under there,” she said.
“I really just trusted the adults around me, and this is the effect of that. Looking back on it, it’s really damaging.”
She stressed that speaking publicly is not about reliving the past but about improving protections for minors in the entertainment industry.
Earlier this week, Courtney shared a lengthy Instagram statement describing the filming experience, noting that Jason Alexander was credited as both a performer and writer on the sketch.
She said that, as a minor, she was not legally able to make decisions about participating because the contracts were signed by adults and the payment went to Hutchison.
“I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke,” she wrote, adding that people often tell her she chose to be there when, legally, she could not make those decisions herself.
Jason Alexander has since issued a public apology, acknowledging that the sketch was inappropriate and expressing regret for any harm it caused.
However, Courtney recently said she has not received a private apology from the actor and believes meaningful action would have a greater impact.
She called on Alexander to support Unchained at Last and California's proposed AB 1267 legislation aimed at ending child marriage, saying that accountability should lead to lasting change.
