The previous little one actor says he is a sufferer too.
Quiet On Seet: The Darkish Aspect of Children TV uncovered the risks little one actors confronted whereas working at Nickelodeon. Now, Matthew Underwood, who starred in Zoey 101, is accusing a former agent of sexual abuse.
With out naming the actor, he says that the abuse occurred when he was 19 and got here after he constructed belief with the agent, who he additionally thought of to be a mentor. Underwood says he has since reported the agent to the company he was signed with, and the agent has since been fired, however he stays lively within the trade. The revelation got here in a prolonged Instagram put up.
He says he was bullied into coming ahead together with his story to fight hate mail he is obtained because of the documentary. Hundreds of thousands are calling for former Nickelodeon staff and actors to come back ahead and communicate out about issues they could have skilled or witnessed. Underwood says victims should not be pressured to relive their trauma on a public stage.
As alleged in Quiet on the Set, some grownup staff of the community, most notably beneath the course of now disgraced producer and screenwriter Dan Schnieder, have been impacted by a poisonous work setting and confronted sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Within the docuseries, some mother and father shared tales of their youngsters being put in inappropriate conditions, with one manufacturing assistant emailing a nude image of himself to a 9-year-old little one actor, and was later arrested on expenses associated to little one pornography. Drake Bell, who starred on The Amanda Present earlier than getting his personal sitcom Drake & Josh, got here ahead for the primary time to publicly reveal that he was sexually abused by vocal coach, Brian Peck.
Underwood says he has empathy for these talked about within the documentary and others who’re selecting to stay silent and take care of issues privately. However, he says he has principally fond recollections of working with Nickelodeon and did not have any unhealthy experiences engaged on the present or with Schneider. On the latter, he says Schneider seemingly realizes the error of his methods.