Courtney Stodden gives demand to ‘Seinfeld’ star Jason Alexander after apology for crude sketch
Courtney Stodden wants more from “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander after he apologized for rubbing her breasts when she was underage.
The 31-year-old told Variety Wednesday she was “very taken aback” that Alexander, 66, apologized for the 2012 sketch because she hasn’t “heard a lot of adults take accountability.”
“When I first got word that he publicly apologized I was grateful because I think that’s the first step in change,” Stodden continued.
However, Stodden thinks “it would be even better” if Alexander showed “action” by supporting anti-child marriage laws and organizations.
She specifically urged him to back AB 1267, a California assembly bill that would ban child marriage, and donate to Unchained at Last, a nonprofit dedicated to ending child marriage.
Stodden — who was famously underage when she married 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchinson in 2011 — also called it “really frightening” that California allows minors to marry.
Earlier this week, Stodden put Alexander on blast for a controversial 2012 “Funny or Die” sketch, where the comedian repeatedly rubbed his phone across Stodden’s breasts while she was dressed in a skimpy bikini.
“Looking back now, I don’t see comedy,” Stodden wrote on Instagram Monday. “I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke.”
In response, Alexander told Page Six he “truly regret[s]” participating in the “inappropriate” sketch.
“But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden,” he added. “I offer her my sincerest apologies.”
Stodden told Variety she realized she was offended by the sketch years later while watching the scene from “Pretty Woman” where Alexander’s character assaults prostitute Vivian Ward, played by Julia Roberts.
“I was in shock,” Stodden said of seeing the scene. “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.”
Stodden added that she “was very manipulated” into being groped in the skit when she was only a “child.”
“I really just trusted the adults around me, and this is the effect of that,” she shared. “Looking back on it, it’s really damaging.”
In a statement to Page Six about the sketch, Stodden said her reason for speaking out about her experience with Alexander “isn’t about revisiting the past for its own sake.”
Instead, Stodden said her goal is to “create a future where children are better protected and where adults in positions of power are held to a higher standard.”
