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In recent years, Courtney Stodden has called out a lot of really effed up stuff that society put them through.
One of them was a mockery over their 2011 interview.
Somehow, viewers came away making fun of the child bride and not the grown adult 51-year-old man.
Now, Courtney is coming forward with a diagnosis. Their “odd” faces at 16 were from Tourette syndrome.
Courtney hasn’t been a child bride in years
In 2011, Courtney sat down for an interview with ABC News’ Lara Spencer.
They had just become famous after their marriage to 51-year-old Doug Hutchinson.
Courtney was only 16 at the time. And Doug sat right by their side for the interview.
Most interviews with child brides take place under a veil of anonymity or after an escape, not with the teenager and the man three times their age seated side-by-side on a sofa.
Somehow, unfortunately, the public’s takeaway from the interview was not to fix laws so that parents can no longer off their children up to predators — but that “gee, this girl” — Courtney would not come out as nonbinary for many years — “is so weird.”
A particular point of focus was Courtney’s facial expressions during the interview.
Make no mistake — they’d be the first to agree that they were making unusual facial motions during the video.
At the time, some speculated that Courtney was on drugs. We have since learned that Doug allegedly taught his child bride to drink at 16.
(They speculated this to shame Courtney, not to ask why the child bride was allegedly high during an interview.)
The truth, we’re only now learning, is that they have Tourette syndrome.
A diagnosis reveal
On Sunday, March 29, Courtney took to their Instagram page to re-share the clip with new context, 15 years later.
“They made a moment into a joke,” they lamented. “But there was a reason.”
Courtney shared: “There’s a part of my story no one ever understood.” And it has to do with this diagnosis.
“As an adult,” they revealed, “I was diagnosed with having suffered from Tourette syndrome.”
Courtney recalled: “And for most of my childhood i lived with tics i couldn’t control stuttering… eye squinting… mouth movements… muscle tension….”
“Things my body needed to release whether i wanted to or not when i was very young,” Courtney described.
“I also experienced seizures,” they shared, “something my body eventually outgrew.”
And there is a reason that we haven’t heard about this before now.
“But the tics stayed.,” Courtney shared. “I never talked about it before… because I was ashamed.”
They confessed: “I didn’t want to out myself i thought it would make me look weird like something was ‘wrong’ with me.”
‘Nothing in my system’
Courtney went on to elaborate further, explaining that they tried to make their tics and muscle spasms look “intentional” and “sexy” to hide what was happening.
Many people can relate — having put on a brave face and walked normally after an injury despite discomfort, for example.
And, for the record, Courtney clarified: “There was no alcohol. No pills. Nothing in my system.”
They affirmed: “There is nothing shameful about something you never had control over. And if you’ve ever been misunderstood for something your body did… you’re not alone.”
It’s a shame that Courtney is still best known as a former child bride and not for their absolute bops. Yes, I love their music. But it’s wonderful that they use their platform to advocate for children who risk being married off to predators.
