Courtney Stodden urges Jason Alexander to back California child-marriage ban after his apology

Jason Alexander issued a public apology for a 2012 Funny or Die sketch in which he touched a 17-year-old Courtney Stodden’s breast and suggested a future sexual encounter once she turned 18. In a statement to The Independent, the actor, now 66, said he "completely agree[s] that it was inappropriate and I truly regret it" and expressed sorrow for any distress caused.

Stodden, 31, responded on Instagram and to Variety, thanking Alexander for acknowledging the wrongdoing but calling for concrete action. She urged him to support California Assembly Bill 1267, which would set the state’s minimum marriage age at 18 without exceptions, and suggested he consider donating to the anti-exploitation group Unchained at Last.

AB 1267 aims to end child marriage in the state. Stodden, who was married to actor Doug Hutchison at age 16, has become an advocate against minors being married. She highlighted that, as a minor, she lacked legal authority over the sketch’s contracts and earnings, emphasizing the broader issue of adults permitting such exploitation.

"I’m very taken aback that an adult was actually able to take accountability because I haven’t heard a lot of adults take accountability," Stodden told Variety.

"Children deserve laws that protect them. They shouldn’t have to become adults before realizing the law should have protected them all along," she added.