Matthew Lawrence Alleges His Agency Fired Him After He Refused to Strip For a Director

Matthew Lawrence is speaking out about sexual harassment he's experienced in the entertainment industry. On the April 28 episode of the "Brotherly Love" podcast, which he hosts with his brothers Joey and Andy Lawrence, Matthew alleged he was fired by his agency after an encounter with a "prominent" director who asked him to take his clothes off.

On the episode, Matthew wanted to talk about how men are also victims of sexual harassment in Hollywood. "There's been many times in my life where I've been propositioned to get a huge role," Matthew said on the podcast, adding that the perpetrators include both men and women.

He continued, "I lost my agency because I went to the hotel room" when a "very prominent Oscar-award winning director showed up in his robe, asked me to take my clothes off, said he needed to take Polaroids of me and that if I did X, Y, and Z, I would be the next Marvel character." He explained, "I didn't do that, and my agency fired me because I left this director's room." Matthew did not name the agency or the director. Representatives for Matthew did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR's request for comment.

Matthew also said that he's had conversations about sexual harassment of men in Hollywood "in private" but never publicly before, and that "a lot" of his male friends in the industry have similar stories. He also called attention to the way many made jokes about Terry Crews when he came forward with an assault allegation about a prominent agent in October 2017 (Crews has since settled the case against the agent, per The Hollywood Reporter).

"Not a lot of guys in my opinion have come out and talked about this in the industry," Matthew said, adding that it's part of what the #MeToo movement has been missing. "Now granted, it's probably about a third of what women go through. Men go through this as well . . . I think our society is less ready to hear that situation is going on with men than they are with women."

Matthew began working as a child actor when he was four years old. His credits include 1993's "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Boy Meets World," and the comedy "Brotherly Love," which also featured his brothers, Joey and Andy.