'Seinfeld' star apologizes after model lashes out over racy sketch they filmed when she was 17 with no 'legal power'

Model Courtney Stodden called out Seinfeld star Jason Alexander over a sketch they performed together when she was just a child bride of 17. Posting on Instagram, the now 31-year-old Stodden said "the older I get, the more impossible it is to understand" how Alexander behaved in the 2012 scene. The two were a Funny or Die sketch where Alexander played a self-help guru and relationship coach.

Alexander has since apologized, telling TMZ "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."

Stodden wore a skimpy red bikini while jokes were made about her breasts and body and he rubbed his iPhone across her chest. "I was 17 years old in this photo," Stodden wrote on Instagram. "The older I get, the more impossible this is to understand. During this comedy sketch, Jason Alexander repeatedly rubbed his phone across my breasts while saying there was 'no signal' in my head but 'plenty of signal' in my chest." Alexander was 53 at the time and a writer on the script. Stodden was married to Doug Hutchison, who was 51 when he married the 16-year-old model.

"Later in the sketch," Stodden went on, "he joked that when I turned 18 he’d like to take me behind the couch and 'have his way' with me. IMDb credits him as one of the writers of the episode. As an adult, that fact has become harder—not easier—for me to understand. I was a minor. I didn’t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate. The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to Doug. The production moved forward. I was the only child in the room. I felt so alone."



"Looking back now, I don’t see comedy. I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke. People still say, 'You chose to be there.' Legally, I couldn’t make those decisions for myself. That’s the point. I can’t change what happened to me but I can ask myself: How did so many adults look at a minor and decide this was acceptable? That’s exactly why I speak out today. Children deserve laws that protect them. They shouldn’t have to become adults before realizing the law should have protected them all along," she concluded.

In her post, she included hashtags about ending child marriage and protecting children. Users responded to her post, taking issue with her classification of herself as a helpless child who couldn't make her own decisions at the age of 17, even as she had decided to get married at 16. 

Advocating against child marriage has been a key issue for Stodden. In a previous post, she shared photos of herself as a teen, saying "they called it controversial. i called it my childhood. i’m not sharing these photos to relive them. i’m sharing them because california still hasn’t fully ended child marriage without exceptions." She is advocating for AB 1267 which would make the legal age for marriage in California 18.

"next month i’ll be back at the state capitol. that means sitting in rooms full of strangers and opening the parts of my life that took years to survive. it means talking about the memories i would rather leave behind. it means revisiting trauma, not because i want to, but because too many people still don’t understand what child marriage does to a child."



"Nawwwww lady," said user Kaylan Pope. "You wanted a career off of your looks and you were willing to do this. Don’t backtrack after you got what you wanted. The prefrontal cortex development between 17 and 18 is minimal you KNEW what you were doing."

She added: "And what’s even MORE hilarious is after all this time your life is still totally based off of sex appeal. That’s it. You made your decision young to devalue yourself. And you walked right into hands that knew how to do it best. It’s more your fault than theirs….. at 17 you’re not dumb. You didn’t care what it took. Now you want moral high ground… but your the exact same now lmao get out of here."

Another claimed "The 'you chose to be there' 'you chose that' comments are ridiculous, kids choose to make stupid decisions all the time especially as teens, its up to the adults around them to protect them!" 

Still another user blamed her mother, saying "Stodden's mother gave parental consent for Courtney to marry 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison at age 16, then acted as her 'manager'
None of you are blaming the mother."

Others in Hollywood have advocated fro more agency for children and teen performers, particularly when it comes to their income. California has put a law into place requiring employers and parents to put child performers' earnings into Coogan Accounts so that their income cannot be squandered before they reach the age of maturity. A bill  has been proposed that would allow minors to get content featuring them as children deleted once they reach the age of 18.