“Zoey 101” star Matthew Underwood has revealed on social media that he was assaulted at age 19 by his agent at the time.
In a statement regarding the Investigation Discovery docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” Underwood opened up about being assaulted by his former agent, whom he does not name.
“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. Again, my trust was betrayed and my self image was crushed,” Underwood wrote on Instagram on Friday. “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 ending my pursuit of acting.”
Underwood then explained why he was sharing his story of sexual harassment and assault, saying that “many people have been blowing up [his] email” and calling him a “pedophile defender” following the release of “Quiet on Set,” which features allegations of abuse against “Zoey 101” creator Dan Schneider and several crew members at Nickelodeon.
“I imagine many of my friends in the business are being equally harassed if they aren’t joining in the chorus,” Underwood wrote, “so 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.”
Underwood played Logan Reese in “Zoey 101” for four seasons from 2005 to 2008. He reprised his role in the 2023 rom-com “Zoey 102,” a sequel film to the Nickelodeon series that also starred original cast members Jamie Lynn Spears, Erin Sanders, Sean Flynn, Christopher Massey, Jack Salvatore Jr. and Abby Wilde.
“I never had a bad experience working on set of a Nickelodeon show and I never had a bad experience with Dan. I have nothing to add to the conversation that anyone would care to hear,” Underwood said of Schneider. “I like to believe people have the capacity to be better humans and Dan appears to recognize that he had been an asshole in his past. I like to believe he is fully capable of being a creator and coworker everyone can enjoy working with.”
Underwood concluded his statement by writing: “I can’t believe I even have to say this, but of course I don’t fucking support pedophiles. Please stop wishing death upon my family and please reconsider harassing other actors who wish to maintain their privacy — you never know who has already been a victim of the hell you’re wishing upon them.”
Read Underwood’s full statement below.