Matthew Underwood has come ahead, claiming that he was “sexually harassed after which assaulted” by his former agent in an Instagram publish on Thursday, March 28. His publish comes simply days after the ultimate episode of the bombshell documentary Quiet on Set was launched, detailing allegations of abuse and office misconduct from younger stars on Nickelodeon.
Matthew, 33, is finest identified for taking part in Logan Reese on the teenager sitcom Zoey 101, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The present’s solid additionally reunited for the sequel movie Zoey 102 in 2023. Matthew revealed that he had two situations the place he was allegedly a sufferer of sexual abuse, as soon as as a pre-teen and as soon as as a younger grownup. He mentioned that the latter led him to step away from his appearing profession. “After I was 12 years outdated, I used to be groomed and molested by my finest buddy’s stepfather,” he wrote. “After I was 19, I used to be sexually harassed after which assaulted by my agent on the time, who had spent a good period of time constructing belief with me as a buddy and mentor.”
Matthew revealed that he misplaced his buddy after the stepfather molested him, and he mentioned that whereas the agent was fired, he remained within the leisure enterprise to today. “My belief was betrayed and my self-image crushed. I reported him to the company and he has since been fired—though he’s nonetheless energetic within the business. This expertise provoked my transfer away from LA and ended my pursuit of appearing,” he wrote.
Within the subsequent slide, Matthew revealed that he’s been receiving harassing emails following the Quiet on Set documentary, with followers asking him to talk up or criticizing him for not. “I’m sharing this with hope that a few of you may acknowledge that simply because an individual doesn’t shout from the rooftops that pedophiles are unhealthy or that individuals can suck – that does Not imply they don’t have their very own causes for staying silent, good causes, private causes,” he wrote. “Please take a second and contemplate that some individuals won’t be making statements as a result of speaking about this type of factor brings up recollections and feelings which might be tough to take care of, and so they have each proper to be silent.”
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He continued and mentioned that he had “empathy” for anybody who got here ahead and shared their story. He additionally admitted that he “by no means had a nasty expertise” on a set for Nickelodeon or working withDan Schneider. In his caption, Matthew additionally said that he’s not talking about his present representatives when detailing his expertise with a previous agent. “To make sure there isn’t any confusion, I wish to make it clear that my present brokers Lauren Inexperienced and Sam Hampton of Trendy Artists Leisure are unimaginable people who’re honest, real, and sensible professionals on this business. They’ve all the time listened to my considerations and watched out for my nicely being,” he wrote.
