Former teen bride Courtney Stodden is calling out their ex-husband, Doug Hutchison, for what they say was predatory behavior that lured them into a nearly 10-year marriage.
The model, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast Wednesday and shared how the “Green Mile” star allegedly groomed them under the guise of an acting coach.
“‘I really want to start teaching your daughter acting,’” Stodden, now 27, claims Hutchison, now 61, told their mother, Krista Keller.
They said Keller replied at the time, “‘OK, well, you know she’s only … she just turned 16.’”
Stodden described their mom as “protective” but acknowledged they understood why Keller has gotten “a lot of hate” over their controversial marriage to Hutchison.
“If I ever have a baby and I’m raising that baby, from my own experiences, I would never sign my kid off, ever, to an adult man who is 34 years older,” they said. “There is just no way that would happen.”
Stodden added, “But I think she thought she was doing something that was going to make me happy, truthfully. I really believe that.”
The reality star shared that their mom has apologized “so many times” for agreeing to the marriage, which was the only way to make it legal since they were underage at the time.
Stodden alleged the paperwork gave Hutchison a “free pass” to molest a child. The former couple were married just a week after meeting in person in their home state of Washington.
“I was already groomed before I met him,” they noted, later adding, “I really did want to marry Doug because I thought I was in love with him, but there was also something in me as a child that made me question if my father really loved me. So it was like this dichotomy.”
Stodden said on their wedding day, they were “beyond nervous” because they “just wanted to play the part for him.”
“I wanted him to be impressed with me, like I was a woman,” they said. “I mean, I was a kid.”
Stodden said the newlyweds had their honeymoon at the penthouse at the famed Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, where they lost their virginity after Hutchison allegedly gave the then-teenager a little bit of wine.
“I remember running into the bathroom, shutting the door and just looking in the mirror and crying for I don’t know how long. I was just crying,” they recalled. “And I know I was feeling stuff that I wasn’t necessarily letting myself process, or I wasn’t old enough to process, or something. I don’t know.”
Stodden said they would use padded bras and cutlets at the time to create the illusion of a larger chest, which they thought would be a turn-off for Hutchison.
“I was so freaked out to undress because I’m like, he’s just not going to love me like this. Like, I look like a kid,” they said. “I looked like a 12-year-old with my clothes off. Little did I know, it was a fantastic night for him. But I was a complete nervous wreck.”
Stodden shared that two months into the marriage, Hutchison’s drinking became an issue, and they often felt threatened.
“He was extremely emotionally abusive to me,” they alleged. “At times physical, but mostly emotionally abusive, because I think that’s the ultimate power a groomer has over a child, is that emotional abuse and control.”
Stodden said they tried to leave Hutchison twice before ultimately filing for divorce in March 2018. However, they said they were sexually assaulted twice by other partners during the separation, so they went back to their then-estranged husband.
Stodden told host Alexandra Cooper, “I was raped a few times when I left him, and I’d go back to him, and he’s just kind of like, ‘Well, what do you expect? You left me. I’m the one who loves you. I’m the one who takes care of you.’”
Stodden then said their “pedophile husband” was the one who would sign them up for TV gigs because he “needed the money.”
“Another misconception is people thought I was a gold digger, [that] I married him for money,” they said. “I’m the one who was taking care of him. That’s why I entered reality TV because I felt like I had to. He controlled the bank accounts. I didn’t even know how to write a check.”
When the couple ultimately split for good, Stodden alleges they found out Hutchison was “pursuing” a young girl in the UK.
“I have all of the proof. I have all of the emails,” they claimed.
Stodden alleged the actor sent the girl the same letters and emails he had sent to them when they were a teen, which made them realize, “It just clicked that I was with a predator.”
Their divorce was finalized in January 2020.
A rep for Hutchison said in response to Stodden’s comments, “Isn’t this old news? Out of things to report? There is a war in Ukraine; that would be interesting news.”
