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Jason Alexander is apologizing after Courtney Stodden publicly called out the “Seinfeld” star over a lewd 2012 comedy sketch the two made when Stodden was 17.
Stodden, a media personality and reality TV star, first drew international attention in 2011 after marrying 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison at age 16.
The relationship was later chronicled by the television movie “I Was a Child Bride,” and her public profile led to numerous reality TV appearances, including “Celebrity Big Brother.” Stodden and Hutchison separated in 2013.
On Monday, Stodden revisited a 14-year-old skit she appeared in with Alexander for the Funny or Die media company. She posted an image on Instagram of herself in a bikini — when she 17-years-old — as Alexander touched her breast with a cellphone, with part of the caption reading: “I was the only child in the room. I felt so alone.”
The skit, a parody of “Dr. Phil” and similar daytime talk shows, featured Stodden and Hutchison seeking couple’s therapy from Alexander’s character, Donny Clay. The sketch featured Alexander rubbing a cellphone on Stodden’s chest, joking that it was the only place with “full bars.”
At another point, while the Clay character was role-playing as Hutchison, Alexander said he would take Stodden behind the couch and “have at you in a number of ways.”
“IMDb credits (Alexander) as one of the writers of the episode,” Stodden wrote in the Instagram post. “As an adult, that fact has become harder — not easier — for me to understand.”
Stodden also pushed back on claims that she willingly participated in the sketch.
“I was a minor. I didn’t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate,” she wrote. “The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to Doug. The production moved forward.”
On Tuesday, Alexander issued an apology to Stodden.
“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 told TMZ.
“But more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms. Stodden,” he said. “I offer her my sincerest apologies.”
Alexander did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
In recent years Stodden has become an advocate speaking out against child marriage and exploitation within the media industry.
“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life proving why what happened to me was wrong,” she wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “I want to spend it making sure the next child never has to explain why they deserved protection in the first place.”
“If my voice carries any weight today, I want to spend it where it matters most: changing what we accept, changing what we ignore, and changing the laws that decide whether children are protected or left to navigate adult decisions they were never capable of making,” she said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
