Courtney Stodden has claimed her ex-husband Doug Hutchison would "threaten to kill himself" so she wouldn't leave him.
Courtney Stodden
The 25-year-old model revealed on Tuesday (03.03.20) she is officially divorced from the 59-year-old actor - whom she married when she was just 16 - in an Instagram post in which she claimed he had "taken advantage" of her and was "verbally abused" by her spouse throughout their marriage.
And after Doug - who split from the blonde beauty in 2017 - hit back to claim Courtney's post was made in "retaliation" for his recent accusation she faked a pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, she has now taken another swipe at her ex-spouse, alleging he "manipulated" her into staying with him.
She told Us Weekly magazine: "I was scared to live without a man who convinced me that I couldn't live without him nor would I ever find love again. 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."
Courtney claims she hasn't seen Doug for three years, and is now dating Chris Sheng.
She added: "He's been in Royal Oak, Michigan, ever since. [The] last time we communicated was over a few months ago. I stopped responding based on the advice of my therapist.
"I've been dating the same guy for three years, Chris [Sheng]. I am working on myself every day. It isn't easy to believe in love. It's hard for me to completely open up to him and trust. I'm constantly pulling back and criticising everything about everything. I need time to heal and hopefully I can learn how to love again fully."
In her Instagram post, Courtney claimed she was "completely trapped, manipulated and at times abandoned" during her marriage.
She wrote alongside a photograph of her and Doug: "It's March 3rd, 2020 - today I am officially divorced from actor Doug Hutchison. It's an emotional day for me. God only knows how he's feeling, but I can tell you that it's for the better.
"I look back at this picture and feel absolutely taken advantage of. I've been scared to even speak up about feeling groomed or being verbally abused during the almost 10 year marriage because I was a child and he was 50 when we married but I'm a woman now and it's time for me to put my big girl pants on and speak on this matter.
"I've felt completely trapped, manipulated and at times abandoned by adults // growing up in such an environment -- it became a lonely and dark place. Stay tuned for my book.
"And to Doug... I'll always love you; yet I'll always be angry. You've left me -- a child woman, feeling belittled and confused. These things I shall overcome. I wish you well. But please don't ever do this to another minor again. It's not right... even if the parent signs off. Wait a respectable amount of time before marrying. Children aren't on your level. I'll always love you regardless. Be better. As shall I. (sic)"
And Doug hit back through his spokesperson, who said: "FYI, Courtney should probably get the length of her marriage correct, (six years not ten).
"I guess this is all coming as a retaliatory effort for Doug finally coming clean about Courtney faking a pregnancy and miscarriage for money and promotional benefit amongst other things that went on during their marriage.
"If it helps, I would suggest you conduct an internet search where you will find, as recently as 6 months ago, Courtney speaks publicly and on many occasions, glowingly about her relationship with Doug, and in fact on more than one occasion, publicly stating that she still loved him and wanted to reconcile their marriage."
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