The mother of public figure Courtney Stodden has publicly criticized a recent television film about her daughter’s life, calling out a specific scene she says is entirely invented and deeply damaging.
In a recent interview, Krista Keller expressed respect and admiration for her daughter but took issue with the Lifetime movie I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story. Keller acknowledged the network’s standard disclaimer about dramatic embellishment but stated one particular portrayal crossed a line.
The scene in question depicts Keller entering her then-teenage daughter’s bedroom and strongly suggesting that marriage to the much older Doug Hutchison was a solution to legal concerns about their relationship. Keller, who was 51 at the time, began a relationship with Stodden when she was 16. Keller vehemently denies this conversation ever took place.
“It shows me strong-arming her, and that just never happened,” Keller stated. She emphasized that she did not force or manipulate her daughter into the 2011 marriage, a union that sparked significant public controversy. “I wish I would have talked her out of it,” Keller added, reflecting with regret on her decision to consent to the wedding.
While Keller said she understood the network’s desire to add dramatic elements and was cooperative with the film’s writers, she found this fabricated moment “very hurtful” and personally crushing. She felt compelled to “set the record straight” on her role.
Keller also spoke more broadly about the lasting impact of that period, expressing sadness over her choice to allow the marriage and wondering how different their lives might be today. Stodden’s marriage to Hutchison, which ended in divorce in 2020, propelled her into a relentless media spotlight, and she has since spoken openly about the trauma associated with that chapter of her life.
