‘Zoey 101’ Star Matthew Underwood Accuses Agent Of Sexually Assaulting Him At 19

Underwood did not identify the assailant by name but said the experience "ended my pursuit of acting."

Matthew Underwood says he was the victim of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of a former agent during the peak of his early fame.

The “Zoey 101” actor made the troubling accusation in a note posted to Instagram on Saturday. His statement was issued in response to the Investigation Discovery docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which looks closely at numerous allegations of toxicity at Nickelodeon throughout the late ’90s and 2000s.

“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,” Underwood, now 33, wrote. “I reported him to the agency and he has since been fired ― although he is still active in the industry. The experience provoked my move away from LA and ended my pursuit of acting.”

Though Underwood does not identify his assailant by name, he said he was compelled to speak out after being called a “pedophile defender” following the release of “Quiet on Set,” which includes abuse claims leveled at “Zoey 101” creator Dan Schneider, among other crew members.

“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,” he wrote. “I have extreme empathy for anyone who has been taken advantage of by people they trusted.”