Jason Alexander Apologizes for 2012 Sketch Conduct Toward 17-Year-Old Courtney Stodden

Q: Why can a minor legally marry but not sign their own work contract?

Because U.S. law treats marriage and ordinary contracts under different rules. In most states, a minor generally lacks full “contractual capacity,” so a work contract they sign can often be voided later. That is why employers, studios and platforms usually require a parent or guardian to sign: it makes the agreement enforceable and is meant to protect children from exploitation. Marriage is different because it is governed by specific state statutes, not just general contract law. Historically, many states created exceptions allowing minors to marry with parental and sometimes judicial consent. In some places, marriage can even trigger partial emancipation, giving the minor some adult legal status. So a state may allow a 16- or 17-year-old to marry under an exception while still treating that same person as too young to independently sign employment or entertainment contracts. That mismatch is exactly what Courtney Stodden is highlighting. She says that at 17, adults controlled the paperwork around her work, while the law had already allowed her to marry at 16. Advocates against child marriage argue this exposes a contradiction: the law recognizes a minor as capable of entering a life-altering marriage, yet not capable of managing many basic legal and financial decisions on their own. The result is a legal gap rooted in history, not logic. It persists because marriage laws are state-specific and have changed more slowly than modern child-protection standards.

3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Jul 22

Jason Alexander said he “completely agree[s]” his conduct in a 2012 Funny or Die sketch with Courtney Stodden was inappropriate and apologized for any harm or distress it caused.
The apology followed Stodden’s Instagram post alleging Alexander repeatedly rubbed his phone across her breasts and joked about sexual acts during the shoot, when she was 17.
Stodden said she was “the only child in the room,” lacked legal power to refuse participation, and that adults signed the contracts while her paycheck went to then-husband Doug Hutchison.
Her post tied the episode to a broader campaign for California to ban marriage under 18 without parental or judicial exceptions, citing her own marriage at 16 as exploitation.