Zoey 101 star breaks silence over Nickelodeon abuse docuseries

Zoey 101 star Matthew Underwood has broken his silence over Nickelodeon abuse docuseries Quiet on Set.

The former Nickelodeon talent took to social media to defend himself against accusations he had stayed silent on the subject of child abuse and toxic working conditions uncovered by the docuseries.

He also said he had experienced sexual abuse at the hands of both a childhood friend's stepfather, and his own casting agent.

“I know many folks want me to respond to the Quiet On Set documentary. I’m going to share something with you that I never thought I’d have to talk about publicly,” Matthew, 33, wrote on Instagram.

“When I was 12 years old, I was groomed and molested by my best friends’ stepfather,” Matthew continued. “When I was 19, I was sexually harassed and then assaulted by my agent.”

He added he had received abusive messages demanding he talk about the 2024 docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV – which aired a number of allegations about the workplace culture at Nickelodeon in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“Why am I tell you this? Well, 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 pedophile defender,” Matthew wrote.

"I imagine many of my friends in the business are being equally harassed if they aren’t joining the chorus, so I’m sharing this with hope that some of you 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.”