“Zoey 101'”s“ ”Matthew Underwood reveals he quit acting after his agent sexually assaulted him when he was 19

The actor also defended fellow Nickelodeon stars who have chosen to stay silent after the shocking revelations in the docuseries "Quiet on Set."

Zoey 101 star Matthew Underwood has opened up about the traumatic experience that led him to quit acting.

In response to the shocking revelations about Nickelodeon in Investigation Discovery's new docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the former child star alleged that he was 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,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “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.”

Quiet on Set contains claims of a toxic work environment and abuse at Nickelodeon during the reign of hit producer Dan Schneider in the 1990s through the 2010s. Cast members from some of Schneider’s biggest shows — including Zoey 101, All That, The Amanda Show, and Drake & Josh — appear in the five-part documentary series to discuss their experiences at the network. Among them is Drake Bell, who details the "extensive" sexual abuse he endured as a teen from network dialogue coach Brian Peck, who was later convicted of child molestation.

Underwood, who describes the incident with his agent as something he never expected to publicly discuss, went on to defend his fellow Nickelodeon stars who have not publicly responded to the accusations in the documentary series.

He explained that after Quiet on Set premiered, people have been “blowing up" his email and calling him a “pedophile defender” for not speaking out about the abuse allegations against Schneider and other Nickelodeon crew members.

“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 also said he has no relevant incidents to recount regarding the allegations. “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,” he wrote. “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 f---ing 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.”

Underwood played Logan Reese in Zoey 101 for all four seasons of the teen sitcom, which ran from 2005 to 2008. He was 14 when the series began and 18 when it concluded. Aside from parts in short films, Underwood did not return to acting until he reprised the role of Logan in the 2023 rom-com Zoey 102, a sequel to the series featuring original cast members Jamie Lynn Spears, Erin Sanders, Sean Flynn, Christopher Massey, Jack Salvatore Jr., and Abby Wilde.

Read Underwood's full statement above.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Pedophiles on set, sexism in the writers' room: Everything said about Nickelodeon on Quiet on Set

• Dan Schneider responds to Quiet on Set documentary allegations: 'There's definitely things that I would do differently'

• Dan Schneider's former assistant calls Nickelodeon producer a 'psychological tormenter'
  

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.