"I was 17 years old in this photo.

The older I get, the more impossible this is to understand. During this comedy sketch, Jason Alexander repeatedly rubbed his phone across my breasts while saying there was “no signal” in my head but “plenty of signal” in my chest. Later in the sketch, he joked that when I turned 18 he’d like to take me behind the couch and “have his way” with me. IMDb credits him as one of the writers of the episode. As an adult, that fact has become harder—not easier—for me to understand. I was a minor. I didn’t have the legal power to decide whether I wanted to participate. The contracts were signed by adults. The paycheck went to Doug. The production moved forward. I was the only child in the room. I felt so alone.

Looking back now, I don’t see comedy. I see a 17-year-old girl whose body became part of an adult joke. People still say, “You chose to be there.” Legally, I couldn’t make those decisions for myself. That’s the point. I can’t change what happened to me but I can ask myself: How did so many adults look at a minor and decide this was acceptable? That’s exactly why I speak out today. Children deserve laws that protect them. They shouldn’t have to become adults before realizing the law should have protected them all along."