Matthew Lawrence said he was fired from his former agency because he refused to remove his clothes for “a very prominent” director who promised him a role in Marvel films.
Matthew, a 43-year-old, shared details about his experience with sexual harassment during the latest episode of the “Brotherly Love” podcast, which he cohosts with his brothers Joey and Andrew Lawrence. The actor also shared a clip of the discussion on his Instagram page Saturday.
Matthew said many times he was repositioned to get a huge role. I lost my agency because I went to the hotel room – which I can’t believe they sent me to – of a very prominent Oscar Award-winning director, Matthew added.
Matthew said the director “showed up in his robe, asked me to take my clothes off, said he needed to take Polaroids of me and said if I did X, Y, and Z, I would be the next Marvel character.”
He said he refused, and his agency fired him because he left the hotel room.
A lot of my other male friends have gone through this with both men and women in this industry, but there’s a double standard, Matthew said. He then referenced actor Terry Crews, who accused a Hollywood agent of groping him and filed a lawsuit in December 2017.
Terry Crews comes out and says it, and people were laughing at him, Matthew said.
Matthew also called the #MeTooMovement a “very good thing” but claimed that men have not gained the same support as women when they speak out against sexual harassment.
Not a lot of guys, in my opinion, have come out and talked about this in the industry, Matthew said. Now granted, it’s probably about a third of what women go through … Men go through this as well.
Matthew was a child star who appeared in TV shows like “Boy Meets World” and “Blossom.” He also appeared in the 1993 film “Mrs. Doubtfire” with Robin Williams and Sally Field. In March 2022, Matthew told People he “stayed away” from drugs after Williams offered him advice.
He was very serious. He was like, ‘You know when you come to my trailer and you see me like that?’ He’s like, ‘That’s the reason why. And now I’m fighting for the rest of my life because I spent 10 years doing something very stupid every day. Do not do it, Matthew said of Williams. I stayed away from it because of him.
