Courtney Stodden Sought Apology

It took fourteen and a half years for the public reckoning to arrive. The video, titled The Donny Clay Show and distributed by the Funny or Die website and its YouTube channel, featured Alexander playing a talk-show host who rubbed a cell phone across Stodden’s breasts and made suggestive remarks about taking her behind a couch once she turned 18.

The apology came after Stodden shared a candid post on Instagram recounting how isolated and exploited she felt during the production. Alexander, who was 52 at the time of filming and co-wrote the sketch, delivered a direct mea culpa.

“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. But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden. I offer her my sincerest apologies.”

Jason Alexander, actor

Courtney Stodden Responds to Jason Alexander and Unresolved Apologies

Stodden, now 31, expressed surprise that an adult involved in her early exploitation was willing to take public responsibility. Stodden noted that while she appreciated the public acknowledgment, a private apology had not been extended.

The conversation around accountability also highlighted stark omissions from other figures involved in her early career. Stodden pointed out that she never received an apology from Dr. Drew Pinsky, who performed an ultrasound on her breasts on his show Lifechangers when she was only 16 to prove they were real. Instead of apologizing, Stodden recalled, Pinsky had his wife invite her onto a podcast to further exploit the situation. Getting an apology from an actor and not a doctor is kind of diabolical, Stodden remarked.

Turning Past Exploitation Into the Fight for AB 1267

Rather than treating the apology as a standalone Hollywood moment, Stodden is using the renewed attention to press for legislative reform in California. She is currently working alongside Unchained At Last, the only nonprofit in the U.S. dedicated to ending child marriage, to urge lawmakers to pass AB 1267.

The proposed bipartisan bill seeks to establish 18 as the absolute legal minimum age for marriage in California with no exceptions. Stodden emphasized the urgency of the legislative push during interviews surrounding the apology.

“It’s really frightening that there’s no minimum age for someone to get married in California. There are only two other states that allow this, Mississippi and New Mexico, and to think that California allows this is shocking.”

Courtney Stodden, model and child marriage activist

Child marriage remained legal across all American states until 2018, and parental consent or judicial waivers still permit it in numerous jurisdictions. Stodden, whose marriage at 16 to then-51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison in 2011 was legally permitted due to parental sign-off, plans to return to the California State Capitol next month alongside fellow survivors to lobby legislators directly.

Reflecting on Consent and Accountability in Production Work

Reflecting on the 2012 Funny or Die sketch, Stodden noted that she did not possess the legal autonomy to sign her own contracts or control her earnings at age 17. Her paychecks went directly to Hutchison, whom she divorced in 2020. The realization of how deeply inappropriate the sketch was hit her years later while watching the film Pretty Woman, specifically noticing the scene where Alexander’s character assaults Julia Roberts’ character in a hotel suite.

Stodden stated that she wants her legacy to center on protecting minors rather than revisiting past trauma. At the end of the day, I don’t want to be remembered for what happened to me, she said. I want to be remembered for helping make sure that this doesn’t happen again to another child.