Courtney Stodden, 27, slams ex-husband Doug Hutchison, 61, as a ‘predator’ and

Courtney Stodden has opened up about being groomed by their ex-husband Doug Hutchison for six months before they married in 2011 — when they were 16 and he was 50 — alleging that he started pursuing another teenager while they were divorcing. 

The 27-year-old, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, faced widespread media scrutiny, received death threats, and was labeled everything from a ‘teen bride’ and a ‘whore’ for marrying a man 34 years their senior.

It was Stodden’s mother Krista Keller who legally consented to the marriage, and it took years for them to see Hutchison’s predation as child abuse. In 2018, they filed for divorce, which was finalized in March 2020. 

Speaking with Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Stodden described how The Green Mile actor connected with them via email under the guise of being their acting coach, claiming he knew their age and what they looked like beforehand. 

‘My manager at the time sent him pictures, and he was very much aware of what I looked like. But he claims…he never knew my age. That’s not true. He did,’ they said. ‘My mom received a call from him, and he said, “I really want to start teaching your daughter acting,” and she goes, “OK, well, you know she’s only…she just turned 16.”‘

Courtney Stodden, who is is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, opened up about being groomed by her ex-husband Doug Hutchison on the Call Her Daddy podcast 

Speaking with host Alex Cooper (left), Stodden (right) described how Hutchison connected with them when they were 16  under the guise of being their acting coach

Stodden married Hutchison in Las Vegas in 2011 with their mother Krista Keller’s legal consent. They were 16 and he was just days away from his 51st birthday 

Stodden shared that their mother knew about their email exchanges with Hutchison, saying they weren’t sexual in nature, but they also weren’t appropriate.  

‘Then, as a child, I didn’t really see it as anything predatory,’ they said, recalling how Hutchison would ask things like, ‘What’s your favorite color?’ and ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’  

‘Now I know in retrospect it’s just a way to start figuring out the child and to get your claws in them and control them,’ they explained. 

The television personality noted that their mother had ‘always been very protective’ of them and now regrets signing off on their marriage.  

‘My mom has gotten a lot of hate, and I understand why,’ Stodden said. ‘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. There is just no way that would happen. 

‘But I think she thought she was doing something that was going to make me happy, truthfully. I really believe that,’ they added. ‘In retrospect, she knows it was the wrong decision. She’s apologized to me so many times and has said, you know, “If I could just do anything to do over, I’m just so sorry, I wouldn’t sign off on this.”‘

Stodden, who was aware of the actor’s age, said they spoke online and over the phone for six months before he traveled to their hometown in Washington to meet them in person.  

‘I believe [that trip] was obviously to see his child in person, verify the parents are on-board. “I’m not going to go to jail, and I can get that free pass to molest a child. I just need that paperwork signed for me to get married because it’s a loophole,”‘ they said. ‘Then a week later we got married. So I basically just met him in person one week, and then a week later I’m married.’ 

Stodden, who was aware of the actor’s age, said they spoke online and over the phone for six months before he traveled to their hometown in Washington to meet them in person

Looking back on that week, Stodden explained that they thought she wanted to marry Hutchison, but there was also a part of them that wanted their father to forbid it. 

‘My dad just said he needed to meet him in person and then he could just sign off on it, which in retrospect makes me extremely angry,’ they said. ‘He was in his very own fragile state of mind at that point in the marriage with my mother. My mother was in a very bad place with my father, so this was a perfect grooming situation for someone like Doug.’

Stodden was with their parents when they picked up Hutchison from their airport and drove about an hour and a half to a café. They thought their father would spend the weekend with Hutchison and be more hesitant about signing off on their marriage.  

‘Like 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,’ they recalled. 

‘When we got to that diner, we had a little lunch. My dad immediately — before they ate their lunch — took Doug outside and said, “You know what, you have my blessing.” 

‘He didn’t…