Jason Alexander has broken his silence after being called out for an old yet controversial sketch. In a recent interview, the Seinfeld star apologized to Courtney Stodden over a 2012 “comedy” sketch.
Jason Alexander addresses the Courtney Stodden controversy after renewed attention
According to TMZ, Jason Alexander expressed his views on the controversial 2012 comedy sketch that resurfaced online. “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.”
He added, “But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden. I offer her my sincerest apologies.”
The apology was in response to Courtney Stodden’s Instagram post, calling out the actor-comedian. She stated, “I was 17 years old in this photo. 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. 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.”
Stodden also added that Alexander was one of the writers of the episodes, and as an adult today, she cannot understand how the adults present in the room that day allowed the sketch to happen.
Moreover, the media personality wrote, “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 [Hutchison].”
At the time the sketch came out, Stodden was in a one-year marriage with Hutchison, who was 51 at the time. They met when she was 16, and reached out to him via email regarding an acting workshop he hosted. After their divorce in 2020, she called out the actor for grooming her and exploiting her during the marriage.
Today, the 31-year-old advocates against child marriage and has been vocal about the safety of underage children. Her post concluded with, “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.”
