The mother of Courtney Stodden has publicly challenged the accuracy of a recent television movie about her daughter’s life, calling out one specific scene as a fabricated and painful misrepresentation.
Krista Keller stated that while she understands dramatic license is often used in biographical films, a particular moment in I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story crossed a line. The scene in question depicts Keller aggressively pressuring her then-16-year-old daughter to marry 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison.
“That scene shows me strong-arming her, essentially coaching her into saying she wanted the marriage. That never happened,” Keller explained. She described watching the invented interaction as “really hard” and “very hurtful,” asserting it falsely portrays her as having manipulated her daughter into the union.
Keller acknowledged participating in discussions with the film’s writers and understands the network’s desire to heighten drama for storytelling purposes. However, she felt compelled to “set the record straight,” firmly stating, “I did not force or even manipulate my daughter into this marriage.”
Reflecting on the 2011 marriage itself, which propelled Stodden into a harsh media spotlight, Keller expressed regret. “I did not make the right decision to let her marry him. That’s really sad for me,” she said, adding she often wonders how their lives would be different had the marriage not occurred.
Stodden, who divorced Hutchison in 2020, has previously spoken about the lasting trauma from her experience as a teenage bride. The television film has now sparked a new chapter in the family’s complex public narrative, with Keller contesting the version of events presented on screen.
