It took 14 and a half years, but Jason Alexander has finally apologized.
On Wednesday, the “Seinfeld” actor publicly apologized to Courtney Stodden for a “comedy” sketch they filmed together, in which Alexander, then 52, fondled the 17-year-old’s breasts on his cell phone and said that when she turned 18, he planned to take her behind the couch and have his way with her.
“Looking back at the comedy skit that Ms. Stodden and I participated in in 2012, I completely agree that it was inappropriate and truly regret it,” Alexander said in a statement to Variety. “But more importantly, we are deeply sorry for the harm and distress we have caused Ms. Stodden. We extend our sincere apologies to her.”
The sketch, a “Dr. Phil” parody titled “The Donnie Clay Show” in which Alexander plays a creepy talk show host, was published on the Funny or Die website and its YouTube channel in January 2012 (it has since been deleted). Stodden appears in the video alongside Doug Hutchison, the famous journeyman actor whom she married in 2011 when she was 51 and she was just 16 years old. At the time, the media largely treated Stodden as a punchline and never held Hutchison accountable for his predatory actions. Alexander apologized after Stodden, now 31 and divorced from Hutchison, posted on Instagram how “alone” and exploited she felt making the video.
Stodden told Variety that he was pleasantly surprised that Alexander took ownership of his role in the disturbing sketch and co-wrote it himself, but that it could be taken a step further. “I’m very surprised that adults were actually able to be held accountable because I haven’t heard of many adults being held accountable,” Stodden explains. “When I first heard the news that he publicly apologized, I was grateful because I think that’s the first step towards change. At the same time, I think it would be even better if he could follow through on it, so I would encourage Jason Alexander to support AB 1267 and support what’s going on in California or even donate to Unchained at Last.”
Stodden recently worked with Unchained at Last, the only US nonprofit organization dedicated to ending child marriage, to persuade the state of California to pass AB1267, a bill that would effectively ban child marriage by setting the legal minimum age for marriage to 18.
“It’s really scary that there’s no minimum age for marriage in California,” Stodden asserts. “The only other states that allow this are Mississippi and New Mexico, so it’s shocking to think that California would allow this.”
As for the “Funny or Die” sketch, Stodden said it wasn’t until years after she appeared in the video that she realized how bad it was. She realized this when she was watching Pretty Woman for the first time and arrived at the scene where the villain, played by Jason Alexander, attacks a prostitute, played by Julia Roberts, in a hotel suite.
“I was shocked,” she said of seeing the “Pretty Woman” scene. “It felt very familiar. It was like he stepped out of ‘Pretty Woman’ and thought it would be fun to recreate that with kids. I didn’t know he would feel me on set.”
Stodden continued, “I was so manipulated. Even though I didn’t look like a child, or what a ‘victim’ was supposed to look like, there was a child buried underneath. I truly trusted the adults around me.” And this is the impact of it. Looking back now, it’s really damaging. This is not about looking back at my past, but about changing the experience of future minors so they don’t have to go through what I had to go through.”
Although Stodden has received public apologies for cyberbullying from Chrissy Teigen and now Jason Alexander, she has been cleared of any charges by Dr. Drew Pinsky, who performed an ultrasound on Stodden’s breasts on the show Lifechangers when she was just 16 years old to prove that her breasts were real.
“Dr. Drew actually doubled down and had his wife sarcastically invite me on his podcast to further exploit me,” Stodden recalls. “It’s a bit heinous to receive an apology from an actor rather than a doctor.”
Stodden, along with other survivors from Unchained at Last, will return to the California State Capitol next month to speak with lawmakers about ending child marriage in the state she calls home. She is also focusing on finishing her memoir and may be involved in a documentary series documenting her fight to end child marriage.
“At the end of the day, I don’t want to be remembered for what happened to me,” Stodden says. “I want to be remembered for helping to prevent something like this from happening again to other kids.”
