‘Zoey 101’ Star Matthew Underwood Claims He Was Sexually Assaulted by Former Agent
The Nickelodeon alum released a lengthy statement where he claimed that he was also ‘groomed and molested’ when he was a pre-teen by a friend’s stepfather, after the ‘Quiet on Set’ documentary.
Matthew Underwood has come forward, claiming that he was “sexually harassed and then assaulted” by his former agent in an Instagram post on Thursday, March 28. His post comes just days after the final episode of the bombshell documentary Quiet on Set was released, detailing allegations of abuse and workplace misconduct from young stars on Nickelodeon.
Matthew, 33, is best known for playing Logan Reese on the teen sitcom Zoey 101, which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The show’s cast also reunited for the sequel film Zoey 102 in 2023. Matthew revealed that he had two instances where he was allegedly a victim of sexual abuse, once as a pre-teen and once as a young adult. He said that the latter led him to step away from his acting career. “When I was 12 years old, I was groomed and molested by my best friend’s stepfather,” he wrote. “When I was 19, I was sexually harassed and then assaulted by my agent at the time, who had spent a decent amount of time building trust with me as a friend and mentor.”
Matthew revealed that he lost his friend after the stepfather molested him, and he said that while the agent was fired, he remained in the entertainment business to this day. “My trust was betrayed and my self-image crushed. I reported him to the agency and he has since been fired—although he is still active in the industry. This experience provoked my move away from LA and ended my pursuit of acting,” he wrote.
In the next slide, Matthew revealed that he’s been receiving harassing emails following the Quiet on Set documentary, with fans asking him to speak up or criticizing him for not. “I’m sharing this with hope that some of you can recognize that just because a person doesn’t shout from the rooftops that pedophiles are bad or that people can suck – that does Not mean they don’t have their own reasons for staying silent, good reasons, personal reasons,” he wrote. “Please take a moment and consider that some people might not be making statements because talking about this kind of thing brings up memories and emotions that are difficult to deal with, and they have every right to be silent.”
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He continued and said that he had “empathy” for anyone who came forward and shared their story. He also admitted that he “never had a bad experience” on a set for Nickelodeon or working with Dan Schneider. In his caption, Matthew also stated that he is not speaking about his current representatives when detailing his experience with a past agent. “To ensure there is no confusion, I want to make it clear that my current agents Lauren Green and Sam Hampton of Modern Artists Entertainment are incredible humans who are sincere, genuine, and smart professionals in this industry. They have always listened to my concerns and watched out for my well being,” he wrote.