Matthew Lawrence Claims an Agency Fired Him After He Refused to Strip for Director
The Boy Meets World star alleged in his Brotherly Love podcast that a director wanted to "take Polaroids" of him in a hotel room
Matthew Lawrence says he was fired by an agency for refusing to stay in a director's hotel room when he was asked to remove his clothes.
The Boy Meets World alum, 43, spoke with his brothers Joey and Andrew Lawrence on the Friday episode of their Brotherly Love podcast about the #MeToo movement and his personal experience with an Academy Award-winning director.
Related:Terry Crews Hits Back at His #MeToo Critics with Powerful Tweet
"I lost my agency because I went to the hotel room — which I can't believe they would send me to — of a very prominent Oscar award-winning director who showed up in his robe, asked me to take my clothes off and said he needed to take polaroids of me," Lawrence claimed. "And if I did X, Y and Z, I would be the next Marvel character."
The comment, which came at the beginning of their podcast episode, was followed by Lawrence's revelation that the agency ultimately fired him, allegedly because he "left this director's room."
"Not a lot of guys, in my opinion, have come out and talked about this in the industry," Lawrence said. "Now, granted, it's probably about a third of what women go through. Men go through this as well."
A rep for Lawrence did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for additional comment. Lawrence did not identify the director, or the agency, by name.
The actor — who starred in the late '90s Brotherly Love sitcom with his two brothers on the WB Network — also discussed Terry Crews, who has been outspoken about his own #MeToo experience.
In 2018, Crews alleged that Adam Venit, former head of the motion picture department at William Morris Endeavor (WME) and top Hollywood agent, groped him at a party in 2016. The actor filed a lawsuit against WME and Venit, which was later dismissed by the Los Angeles District Attorney, citing the statute of limitations. Venit denied the allegations and was later suspended and demoted.
"A lot of these stories, a lot of my other male friends have gone through — both men and women in this industry — but there's a double standard and this is where I bring Terry Crews," Lawrence said.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"Terry Crews comes out and says it, people are laughing at him. People don't support him. They kick him out, why? Because he's a man that represents masculinity, and I think our society is less ready to hear that situation going on with men than they are with women, actually."
Joey responded: "The bottom line is, there's been a lot of those crossroads and those thresholds that, you know, of course, we've all been a part of that. And those moments are tough. For me, when those moments arose — and there were plenty, obviously — it was just a principle thing for me."
"I just wasn't gonna do it. And I lost out on a lot of parts, too. Big movie parts," Joey added. "And like you said, I know the guys that went on and did them, and I don't know what situations they were into. I'm not even gonna speculate. But I know that it was set up in an infrastructure where that was expected."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
