‘Zoe 101’ star Matthew Underwood accuses agent of sexually assaulting him at 19

Matthew Underwood says he was sexually harassed and assaulted at the hands of a former agent during the height of his early fame.

The “Zoe 101” actor made the disturbing allegation in a note posted to Instagram on Saturday. His statement was issued in response to Investigation Discovery’s documentary series “Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Children’s Television,” which took a close look at Nickelodeon’s numerous allegations of toxicity in the late 1990s and 2000s.

“When I was 19, I was sexually harassed and then assaulted by my agent at the time, who had spent a lot of time building trust with me as a friend and mentor,” wrote Underwood, now 33. “I reported him to the agency and he has since been fired – although he is still active in the industry. The experience prompted my move from LA and ended my pursuit of acting.”

Although Underwood did not identify his attacker by name, he said he felt compelled to speak out after being called a “pedophile advocate” following the release of “Quiet on Set,” which included abuse allegations made against the creator of ” Zoey 101″ Dan Schneider, among other crew members.

“I share this in the hope that some of you can understand that just because one doesn’t shout from the rooftops that pedophiles are bad or that people can be nasty doesn’t mean they don’t have their own reasons for staying silent, good reasons , personal reasons,” he wrote. “I have tremendous empathy for anyone who has been taken advantage of by people they trusted.”

“Zoe 101,” which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, followed the life of Zoe Brooks (played by Jamie Lynn Spears) as she enrolled at a prestigious California boarding school that had previously only allowed boys. Underwood stars as Logan Reese, the son of a film and television producer who becomes the boyfriend of Zoe’s friend, Quinn Pensky (Erin Sanders).

As Underwood suggests in her note, his acting credits have been scarce since “Zoe 101” ended. However, he reprized the role of Logan in the sequel to Zoe 102, which was released on Paramount+ last year.

In the caption accompanying his note, Underwood clarified that his claims were not related to his current agents Lauren Green and Sam Hampton of Modern Artists Entertainment, whom he described as “amazing people who are sincere, genuine and smart professionals.”

Regarding the allegations against Schneider, Underwood stated, “I’ve never had a bad experience working on the set of a Nickelodeon show, and I’ve never had a bad experience with Dan. I have nothing to add to the conversation that anyone would want to hear.

“I like to believe that people have the ability to be better people, and Dan seems to admit that he was an ass in his past,” he continued. “I like to believe that he is fully capable of being an artist and a colleague that anyone can enjoy working with.”

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Online Sexual Abuse Hotline or The National Sexual Assault Resource Center website.