Mannequin and singer Courtney Stodden has condemned youngster marriage in the US, describing it as ‘America’s soiled little secret’. Reflecting on her marriage at age 16 to actor Doug Hutchison, who was 35 years her senior, Stodden revealed she grew to become the ‘breadwinner’ in a relationship which left her emotionally scarred and silenced, Fox Information reported.
Stodden revisited her story within the Lifetime movie I Was a Little one Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story, a part of the community’s Ripped from the Headlines collection. In interviews selling the movie, she shared that realizing the depth of her trauma in maturity has been painful however essential.
“After I first hit the highlight as a younger woman, my mind was not developed but,” Stodden advised Fox Information Digital. She added that she grew to become the breadwinner at 16 and making a living for a person older than her father.
‘America’s soiled little secret’
Stodden emphasised that youngster marriage will not be a distant concern confined to different nations. “We consider youngster marriage as one thing international, however actually, America’s soiled little secret is the loophole within the judicial system that permits, in my view, pedophiles to marry kids,” Stodden mentioned in her dialog with Fox Information.
She added that she often obtained messages from different survivors of kid marriage in the US. “The scariest a part of it’s that I’m not alone,” Stodden mentioned and famous, “There are such a lot of individuals who attain out to me with their horror tales.”
Stodden and Hutchison, who have been married in 2011, separated and reconciled a number of occasions earlier than finalizing their divorce in 2020. Throughout their marriage, Stodden was subjected to public ridicule, victim-blaming as a substitute of empathy.
Surviving public scrutiny and private loss
In an interview with Too Fab, Stodden revealed that she coped with public scrutiny by making a ‘caricature’ of herself. “I used my vogue as revolt,” the mannequin mentioned and elaborated that the general public criticized her. “I hid behind that character to outlive,” she revealed.
Over time, she admitted, she misplaced herself in that persona. She mentioned her participation within the mission introduced buried feelings to the floor, significantly round her relationship along with her father. “Each of my dad and mom believed he was an excellent man,” she mirrored. Stodden mentioned her father’s emotional absence catapulted into the expertise she had. “Reopening that wound has been the toughest half,” she mentioned.
Therapeutic and discovering hope
In the identical interview, Stodden mentioned she has discovered renewed hope in her private life. In December 2024, she married tv producer Jared Safier in a small, intimate ceremony.
“He has demonstrated a very totally different strategy to love,” she mentioned, “He has proven me what wholesome love seems like. I’ll by no means utterly belief once more; nonetheless, I really feel protected with him.”
At thirty-one years outdated, Stodden nonetheless fights for change by elevating consciousness about youngster marriage legal guidelines in the US and encourages lawmakers to shut authorized loopholes that enable abusers to get away with it beneath the identify of marriage.
FAQs
How outdated was Courtney Stodden when she obtained married?
She was 16 years outdated when she married actor Doug Hutchison, who was 51 on the time.
What did Courtney Stodden name youngster marriage within the U.S.?
She referred to it as “America’s soiled little secret,” criticizing authorized loopholes that enable adults to marry minors.
When did Courtney Stodden and Doug Hutchison divorce?
Stodden filed for divorce in 2018, and the divorce was finalized in 2020.