The earthquake in the Hollywood industry caused by the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, with a multitude of former child stars and Nickelodeon workers ensuring that there was a toxic work environment, has had a new impact this past weekend. chapter: that of actor Matthew Underwood.
After Pandora’s box was opened with Drake Bell’s statements talking about the sexual abuse of which he had been a victim by his dialogue and acting coach – with the connivance of the producer, showrunner and visible head of the film project chain, Dan Schneider—now it has been Underwood who has used his Instagram to claim that he was raped by his former agent.
Underwood, who had been criticized online for remaining impassive about what the documentary series told, began his publication by assuring that he, at the age of 12, was the victim of “touching” by his stepfather’s best friend, as well as, more Later, and already within the famous series Zoey 101, he was raped by his representative.
“When I was 19, I was harassed and then sexually assaulted by my agent at the time, the same one who had spent an enormous amount of time earning my trust as a friend and mentor. Once again, I had been betrayed and the image that he had about me, broken into a thousand pieces,” he said.
Underwood adds that he reported him to the agency at the time “and they immediately fired him,” but that he is “still active in the industry.” “This experience caused me to leave Los Angeles and put an end to my acting career,” he said, a retirement that lasted about 8 years.
The interpreter, who is now 33 years old, added that, if he now wants to share his story, it was because of the number of emails he has received calling him a “defender of pedophiles” for not speaking publicly about the docuseries or having participated in it.
“I imagine that many of my friends in the business are being similarly harassed if they don’t deign to speak up, so I say this in the hope that some of you can understand that just because a person doesn’t shout from the rooftops that they are pedophiles are bad or that some people can be the worst of the worst, does not mean that they do not have their own reasons, as personal as they are correct, to remain silent,” he continued.
Finally, Underwood has clarified that he “never had a bad experience” during his time at Nickelodeon or working with Schneider. “I have nothing to add to that conversation. I like to believe that people have the ability to be better people and Dan seems to recognize that he was a jerk in the past,” he concluded.