‘Zoey 101’ star Matthew Underwood says agent sexually assaulted him

nypost.com:

“Quiet on Set” docuseries.“I know many folks want me to respond to the ‘quiet on set’ documentary,” Underwood, 33, began his lengthy post. “I’m going to share with you something I never thought I would have to talk about publicly, as it’s honestly none of your business anyway.” “When I was 12 years old, I was groomed and molested by my best friend’s stepfather,” he wrote. “I lost the best friends I ever had because I couldn’t spend any more time with them without feeling a personal disgust and betrayal brought on by a man I trusted as a father to me.” “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,” he continued. “My trust was betrayed and my self-image was 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 L.A.

and ended my pursuit of acting.”The Post reached out to Underwood for comment. He did not name the agent in his statement.“Zoey 101” aired from 2005 to 2008.Underwood said people have lately been “blowing up” his email and calling him a “pedophile defender” for not immediately speaking out against “Zoey 101” creator Dan Schneider and other Nickelodeon employees.

Underwood further stated that he has “spent many years rebuilding my self-image and those hateful words have little effect on me today.” “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 —.