Courtney Stodden is speaking out after Jason Alexander took steps to apologize for his role in a 2012 comedy sketch by making a donation to Unchained At Last, a nonprofit dedicated to ending child marriage in the United States.
“I was grateful to learn Jason Alexander sent a beautiful gift to Unchained At Last. I want to sincerely thank him for choosing to turn words into action,” Stodden, 31, wrote via Instagram on Friday, July 24, of the donation. “Accountability isn’t about public punishment — it’s about taking meaningful steps that can help create change.”
“My hope has always been bigger than my own story. If difficult conversations can lead to real support for organizations protecting children and ending child marriage, then something positive can come from something deeply painful,” she continued. “I hope this becomes the standard. When harm is acknowledged, meaningful action has the power to help others. That’s how real change begins.”
View this post on Instagram
The 2012 Funny or Die sketch resurfaced earlier this week after the model-turned-activist called out the Seinfeld star, 66, for participating in the sketch, which featured Stodden when she was just a minor.
In the sketch, Alexander parodied some daytime talk shows, including Dr. Phil, where he “repeatedly rubbed his phone across my breasts while saying there was ‘no signal’ in my head but ‘plenty of signal’ in my chest,” Stodden said in a July 20 Instagram post, which included a screenshot of the viral video.
“Later in the sketch, he joked that when I turned 18 he’d like to take me behind the couch and ‘have his way’ with me,” she continued. “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 [ex-husband Doug Hutchison]. 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,” Stodden added. “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.”
View this post on Instagram
The donation follows an apology from Alexander, who shared his words of remorse in a statement to TMZ on Tuesday following Stodden’s post.
“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,” Alexander said. “But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden. I offer her my sincerest apologies.”