Courtney Alexis Stodden, popularly known as Courtney Stodden, is an American media personality, model, singer, and songwriter. After competing in beauty pageants in their home state of Washington and releasing their original music, they came to international attention when they married then 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison when they were just 16.
Courtney was born on 29 August 1994, in Tacoma, Washington, USA, to parents Alex John Stodden and Krista Keller. They have two sisters, Ashley and Brittany.
They stepped into the entertainment industry in 2011, continuing to work in music and build their careers.
Courtney Stodden Announced Their Engagement
Yes, you read it right. After their separation from Doug Hutchison, they have been engaged to a boyfriend, Chris Sheng.
The announcement was made by them on their Instagram page, named Courtney Stodden, with a short boomerang video showcasing the engagement ring in their hand. They wrote in the post, “I said yes …OH and the ring made me gag it’s so beautiful #engaged #stopasianhate #diamondsaregirlsbestfriend”.
Some exclusive photos were also obtained by Page Six, as the happy couple packed on the PDA at the swimming pool just hours before they got engaged on 28 May 2021. They were all in love with each other while having their time together in the pool.
In one of the photos, Chris was seen to lean a little forward as he shared a kiss with Courtney. The sparkle of the ring was missing in Courtney’s left hand at the time, and now it covers after their post on Instagram.
Stodden, after the proposal, shared the time of their big moment to E! News, saying:
“Chris got down on one knee while I was crying my eyes out!. We returned home from a night out in Palm Springs and in between the rose and pent up feelings, I needed a good cry!”
The star further added that they got emotional because “everything within the last few weeks has dredged up a lot of past trauma.” They continued that Sheng reminded them that they were “not alone,” as he said, "I’m never going anywhere. I’ll always be here for you to them."
Chris also took to his social media to announce that he popped the question to Courtney “On Friday, May 28” and “they said Yes.” Sheng continued to say that he was “blessed and fortunate” to have met them and create such a strong bond and faith together. He also left a striking message as he captioned, saying that they were in the kind of relationship “where we may not always like each other but will ALWAYS love each other.”
This moment left Courtney so overwhelmed with joy and excited to know that they would marry again. But they were happier to be loved again.
Courtney Stodden Relationship With Doug Hutchinson
Before being in a relationship with Chris, Courtney Stodden was married to Doug Hutchinson. But they later got divorced after facing some traumatic events in their relationship together.
After their divorce was finalized, Courtney gave some glimpses about their relationship on 4 March 2020, exclusively to Us Weekly. They said that they “were scared to live without a man who convinced me that I couldn’t live without him nor would I ever find love again.”
They claimed: “Doug threatened to kill himself multiple times in a manipulation tactic to get me to stay. He now isn’t legally allowed to own a firearm due to police detaining him.” There were also some words from Doug’s representative that Courtney married Doug for the money. Still, later, Courtney clarified themselves that when they were married to the man, he only had “$50k” to his name, and they paid all of his debt and became the sole breadwinner in the family.
Courtney Stodden was married to Doug Hutchinson (©: usmagazine.com)
Stodden later added during the conversation with the Us Weekly that they felt grateful in the wake of their separation, which was hard to get over. They also exclaimed some anger they harbored against their parents, their father, and mother, to easily give up on them to get married as a minor to some older person than themself.
Stodden officially filed for divorce in 2018. In a YouTube video posted in January, they opened up about how their “brain wasn’t developed” when they wed Hutchison. They said at the time:
“I believe Doug and I had so much love that was chaotic and toxic for the situation given. I was a child. I don’t believe Doug ever saw me as a child.”
In 2011, Stodden married star Doug Hutchison. The two met via email when Stodden reached out about an acting workshop Hutchison hosted in Los Angeles. They then frequently exchanged texts and calls with each other. Later, with Stodden’s mother Krista and father Alex (who is four years younger than Hutchison), the couple married in Las Vegas, Nevada. The marriage drew a lot of criticisms and hated mails to the couple at the time.
On March 3 of 2020, Stodden took to their Instagram page that their divorce from Hutchison was finalized. “It’s March 3rd, 2020 – today. I am officially divorced from actor Doug Hutchison. It’s an emotional day for me,” the model wrote. “God only knows how he’s feeling, but I can tell you that it’s for the better,” as they went on to talk about the nearly a decade-long manipulative marriage that left them with trauma.
Courtney Introduced Themselves As Non-Binary
Courtney Stodden reached out to fans and followers in their social media accounts to announce their new pronouns.
On April 14 of 2021, they took to their Instagram page along a lovely selfie of themselves, writing:
“They’them/theirs. I don’t Identify as she or her. I’ve never felt like I ever fit in anywhere. I was bullied horribly in school because I was different. The other girls never understood me. It got so bad that my mom pulled me out of school. And still, I don’t fit in. I never really connected with anyone my age. My spirit is fluid with a kaleidoscope of color. #bekind #beopen #loveyourself.”
They also reached via direct messages on Twitter on the same day, saying:
“I’m excited to begin to truly start expressing myself without the worry of others’ judgments or opinions. I’ve lived too long hiding from who I really am. I’m so excited for everyone to see my true self creatively and spiritually.”
After declaring that they were non-binary, Courtney takes over in the music industry with their new music video, Pleasure. They went exclusively to OK! Magazine to say that they were “bullied horribly in school because I was different,” and eventually, their mother had to pull “me out of school.”
But now, Stodden is ready to show the world in a new light. They talked about the music video, saying, “The song is very seductive and upbeat so it was important for me to create a visual where I represented someone in power.” They added, “Cause I feel like for so long I’ve just been obviously under the thumb of men, really, especially Hollywood men.”
Drama Between Courtney And Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen was pictured for the first time since she was accused of bullying Courtney Stodden, as reported by Mirror, on the last of May 2021.
Chrissy went viral recently after several tweets she sent Courtney in 2011 resurfaced.
In an interview published on May 10 of 2021, Stodden told Daily Beast that “[Teigen] wouldn’t just publicly tweet about wanting me to take ‘a dirt nap’ but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself,” and “Things like, ‘I can’t wait for you to die.”
Both TMZ and Buzzfeed revealed some of the screenshots of some of the tweets Teigen reportedly sent in 2011 and 2012, although the DMs have not been confirmed. “my Friday fantasy,” reads one tweet directed at Stodden. “you. dirt nap. Mmmmm, baby.” And another one reads, “go. to sleep. forever.” The tweets were such dissing messages to Stodden.
Chrissy Teigen accused of bullying in several of her tweets (©: buzzfeed.com)
Few days after the interview, Teigen addressed their treatment of Stodden in a long Twitter thread. “Not a lot of people are lucky enough to be held accountable for all their past bullshit in front of the entire world,” they began. “I’m mortified and sad at who I used to be. I was an insecure, attention-seeking troll.”
Teigen then said that they were ashamed of their action, which left Courtney to feel unbearably down. She would try to connect with her privately to apologize as they also want to have a public apology.
Then Stodden, who appears to have seen Teigen’s tweet, and addressed the matter in an Instagram post along with a screenshot in which they were seen to be blocked from Teigen’s Twitter account. They captioned the post saying that they accept her public apology but claims to have never heard from her ever since.
Moreover, they added another matter of being blocked on Twitter, as Teigen seems to save her partnerships with several brands with a public attempt of apology from themselves.
Nevertheless, multiple sources have reported that several brands partnered with Teigen have been distancing themselves from her after the surfacing of the tweets.
How Much Is Courtney Stodden Net Worth?
Although they have faced such hardships and criticisms from a young age, they became capable of earning for themselves. According to CelebrityNetWorth, they have an estimated net worth of $500 thousand as of 2021.
Stodden began their career in the entertainment industry at a young age, firstly by venturing into modeling. In 2009, they hosted their cable TV show in Ocean Shores, The Courtney Stodden Show, which aired five times. Later in October, they competed as Miss Ocean Shores Teen USA in the 2010 Miss Washington Teen USA pageant. In December 2011, they were named among VH1’s Top 40 Winningest Winners of 2011.
Courtney has also appeared in some films, including the 2016 film Love Addict. In 2010, they broadened their professional career to start as musicians and released the original songs Car Candy, Crazy, Don’t Put It on Me, Hurting People, and We Are America. They also released the single Daddy Issues in June 2021.
They started appearing on several reality shows later on. Courtney and their then-husband, Doug, were featured on the second season of the VH1 reality series Couples Therapy. They also competed on the reality TV series Celebrity Big Brother in 2013. Courtney also made appearances on several other reality TV series, including Hollywood Hillbillies in 2014, Reality Ex-Wives in 2014, and Celebs Go Dating in 2017.
They are likely to release more of their recordings in the coming future and appear in several TV shows, films, and models for several brands.