Matthew Underwood is opening up about why he left behind his appearing profession.
The Zoey 101 star, 33, shared a submit on Instagram Friday, by which he stated that he was assaulted by his former agent, whom he doesn’t identify, when he was 19. The revelation was made amid the discharge of Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Youngsters TV, a docuseries analyzing the poisonous behind-the-scenes tradition on standard youngsters’s reveals.
“After I was 19, I used to be sexually harassed after which assaulted by my agent on the time, who had spent an honest period of time constructing belief with me as a buddy and mentor. Once more, my belief was betrayed and my self picture was crushed,” Underwood wrote. “I reported him to the company and he has since been fired — though he’s nonetheless energetic within the trade. This expertise provoked my transfer away from LA and ending my pursuit of appearing.”
Underwood then stated that he was sharing his story as a result of “many individuals have been blowing up my e mail” and calling him a “pedophile defender” after the discharge of Quiet on Set, which options abuse allegations towards Dan Schneider, who helmed Zoey 101.
“I think about a lot of my buddies within the enterprise are being equally harassed in the event that they aren’t becoming a member of within the refrain, so I’m sharing this with hope that a few of you’ll be able to acknowledge that simply because an individual doesn’t shout from the rooftops that pedophiles are unhealthy or that individuals can suck — that doesn’t imply they don’t have their very own causes for staying silent, good causes, private causes,” he stated. “I’ve excessive empathy for anybody who has been taken benefit of by folks they trusted. I hope they’re all in a position to develop to like themselves and have nice assist from their household and buddies of their journey of restoration.”
Persevering with his assertion, Underwood wrote about his personal expertise as a baby star, writing, “I by no means had a nasty expertise engaged on set of a Nickelodeon present and I by no means had a nasty expertise with Dan. I’ve nothing so as to add to the dialog that anybody would care to listen to.”
Underwood starred because the character Logan Reese on Zoey 101 from 2005 to 2008. He reprised his position within the 2023 movie Zoey 102.
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Directing his consideration to Schneider, 58, straight, Underwood then stated, “I prefer to imagine folks have the capability to be higher people and Dan seems to acknowledge that he had been an a—— in his previous. I prefer to imagine he’s absolutely able to being a creator and coworker everybody can get pleasure from working with.”
Underwood — who additionally stated in his submit that he was allegedly “groomed and molested” at age 12 by a buddy’s father continued, “I’ve no expectation to work with him once more, that is simply me wanting good for anybody who desires to be higher.”
Within the caption of his submit, Underwood stated that his present brokers usually are not those his allegation revolves round.
“To make sure there isn’t a confusion, I need to make it clear that my present brokers Lauren Inexperienced and Sam Hampton of Trendy Artists Leisure are unbelievable people who’re honest, real, and sensible professionals on this trade,” he wrote.
“They’ve all the time listened to my considerations and watched out for my nicely being. I need to thank Lauren Inexperienced for actually having my again since I used to be 8 years outdated,” Underwood continued. “The one interval of my life that I wasn’t represented by her, was the yr and a half I had this s—– expertise with this different agent.”
“If it wasn’t for Lauren and Sam, I’d by no means have been on a display screen once more,” he concluded, tagging his brokers’ Instagram handles.
Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Youngsters TV is now streaming on Max.