{"id":824416,"date":"2026-07-26T06:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T06:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/824416\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T06:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T06:48:13","slug":"seinfelds-jason-alexander-donates-thousands-after-inappropriate-skit-with-former-child-star-courtney-stodden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/824416\/","title":{"rendered":"Seinfeld\u2019s Jason Alexander donates thousands after \u2018inappropriate\u2019 skit with former child star Courtney Stodden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seinfeld<\/a> star Jason Alexander<\/a> has made a donation to charity after being called out for his involvement in an \u201cinappropriate\u201d comedy sketch in 2012. <\/p>\n

The 66-year-old has apologised for the \u201cregretful\u201d skit<\/a> filmed with former child star Courtney Stodden<\/a>, now 31, who this week slammed the comedian online for performing an \u201cadult joke\u201d when she was 17. <\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

The actor, best known for playing George Costanza in Seinfeld, has apologised.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI was grateful to learn Jason Alexander sent a beautiful gift to Unchained at Last,\u201d Stodden revealed in a social media post<\/a> on Saturday. <\/p>\n

According to multiple US news outlets, Alexander donated $US15,000 ($21,400) to the charity, dedicated to ending the legal practice of child marriage in the United States. <\/p>\n

The charity appears to have been chosen by Stodden, an advocate for the cause after her own underage marriage in 2011, at age 16. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Stodden called out the Shallow Hal star for a 2012 skit, called The Donny Clay Show with Courtney Stodden, filmed when she was a minor. <\/p>\n

On Instagram<\/a>, Stodden shared a photo from her appearance, which showed Alexander who 52 at the time, rubbing his phone against her chest as part of the punchline. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was 17 years old in this photo,\u201d \u00a0she captioned the screenshot in which she\u2019s wearing a red bikini. \u201cThe older I get, the more impossible this is to understand.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this comedy sketch, Jason Alexander repeatedly rubbed his phone across my breasts while saying there was \u2018no signal\u2019 in my head but \u2019plenty of signal in my chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cLater in the sketch, [his character] joked that when I turned 18 he\u2019d like to take me behind the couch and \u2018have his way\u2019 with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted Alexander was credited as a writer of the sketch on IMDb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a minor. I didn\u2019t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate. The contracts were signed by adults,\u201d she said, adding the money from the sketch went to her then-husband, Doug Hutchison, who married her when he was 51 and she was 16.<\/p>\n

\"Courtney<\/p>\n

Courtney Stodden is now campaigning to for a bill that would end child marriage loopholes in California.\u00a0Instagram\/@courtneyastodden<\/p>\n

They married<\/a> in 2011 and quickly became tabloid fixtures until a permanent split in 2017.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the sketch, Stodden continued: \u201cLooking back now, I don\u2019t see comedy. I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stodden said she was the \u201conly child in the room\u201d and children deserved laws that protect them.<\/p>\n

\"Courtney<\/p>\n

Hutchison was 51 when he married 16-year-old Stodden.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t change what happened to me but I can ask myself: How did so many adults look at a minor and decide this was acceptable?\u201d<\/p>\n

Seinfeld star Alexander has since \u201csincerely apologised\u201d for the sketch had has agreed \u201cit was inappropriate\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cLooking 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,\u201d Alexander said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut more importantly, I am deeply sorry for any harm or distress it has caused Ms Stodden,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI offer her my sincerest apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the donation, Stodden continued her acknowledgement of Alexander\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to sincerely thank him for choosing to turn words into action,\u201d the young star commented. \u201cAccountability isn\u2019t about public punishment \u2013 it\u2019s about taking meaningful steps that can help create change.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is using her platform to campaign for AB 1267, a bipartisan Californian bill that would end child marriage, making 18 the absolute minimum age for marriage with no exceptions.<\/p>\n