Nickelodeon star Matthew Underwood says he quit acting after getting sexually assaulted by his agent

Matthew Underwood, best known for his role as Logan Reese on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101, has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment and assault by his former agent. In a statement shared on social media, Underwood revealed the traumatic experience that led him to quit acting.

"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.

He reported thatthe agent has since been fired, though he remains active in the industry. “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 added.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Underwood's decision to speak out comes after the airing of Investigation Discovery's documentary, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which included allegations against Dan Schneider, the creator of Zoey 101.

In his post, Underwood further clarified that he was not defending Schneider, but rather explaining his silence on the matter.

"Lately, many people have been blowing up my email telling me they hope me and my mom die and that we burn in hell, I’m being called a paedophile defender and all that jazz," he wrote.

"I imagine many friends in the business are being equally harassed if they aren’t joining the chorus, so I’m sharing this with the hope that some of you can recognise that just because a person doesn’t shout from the rooftops that paedophiles 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 further said.

Despite his negative experience with his agent, Underwood emphasised that he had positive experiences on the set of Zoey 101 and with Schneider. He expressed his belief that people have the capacity to change and that he hopes for the best for everyone.

“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 added.

“I like to believe people have the capacity to be better humans and Dan appears to recognise 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. I have no expectation to work with him again, this is just me wanting good for anyone who wants to be better.”

Underwood played Logan Reese throughout the four seasons of Zoey 101 and reprised his role in the 2023 sequel film, Zoey 102.