Matthew Lawrence got candid about a horrible experience with an award-winning director.
During an episode of his Brotherly Love podcast on Thursday, the 43-year-old actor was talking about the #MeToo movement with his brothers and co-hosts Joey and Andrew Lawrence when he opened up about the sexual harassment he’s faced in Hollywood over the years. He said:
“There’s been many times in my life where I’ve been propositioned to get a huge role.”
Related: Bella Thorne Blasts Director For Accusing Her Of ‘Flirting With Him’ — When She Was 10!
Matthew then went on to share one incident when a “prominent Oscar award-winning director” allegedly offered him a role in a Marvel movie – but only if he stripped and let the person take pictures of him. WTF?! When the Boy Meets World alum refused and left the hotel, he claimed his agency at the time fired him. Again, what the f**k?!! Without naming names of who was involved in this disturbing encounter, Matthew recalled:
“I’ve lost my agency because I went to the hotel room, which I can’t believe they would send me to, of a very prominent Oscar award-winning director who showed up in his robe, asked me to take my clothes off, and said he needed to take Polaroids of me. And then if I did X, Y, and Z, I would be the next Marvel character. I didn’t do that, and my agency fired me because I left this director’s room.”
So, so awful. The Mrs. Doubtfire star acknowledged “a lot of my other male friends” had similar experiences in the industry. However, he noted there is a “double standard” when male stars come forward with sexual harassment claims versus female stars. Using Terry Crews’ 2017 groping claims against WME agent Adam Venit as an example, Matthew explains:
“Terry Crews comes out and says it; people are laughing at him. People don’t support him. They kick him out. Why? Because he’s a man that represents masculinity, and I think our society is less ready to hear that situation going on with men than they are with women.”
He added:
“Not a lot of guys in my opinion have come out and talked about this in the industry. There is also this same situation. Now granted, I’d say it’s probably about a third of what women go through. The amount of men. Men go through this as well, whether it’s another woman or another man in power.”
What an terrible situation. We appreciate Matthew for having this vulnerable conversation and sharing his experience. You can see the entire discussion on the Me Too movement (below):
[Image via Brotherly Love Podcast/YouTube]
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