The actor spoke out on the most recent episode of his 'Brotherly Love' podcast.
Matthew Lawrence is opening up. The actor, while reflecting on the #MeToo movement in Hollywood, shared his own experiences with people in power trying to sexually exploit him.
During a new episode of his Brotherly Love podcast, released on Friday, Matthew spoke with his co-hosts -- brothers Joey and Andrew Lawrence -- and claimed that he was "fired" by his agent after refusing to get naked for, as he said, a "prominent" director.
"There have been many times in my life where I’ve been propositioned to get a huge role," Matthew said during the episode, adding that in one instance it all turned out very badly.
"I 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," Matthew alleged.
Without naming the director, the 43-year-old actor claimed that he was told, "If I did X, Y and Z, I would be the next Marvel character."
According to Matthew, he left the director's room without complying and was subsequently fired by his talent agency -- which he also did not identify by name. Nor did he specify what film he claims he was offered a role in.
Matthew said that he feels that "not a lot of guys, in my opinion, have come out and talked about this in the industry."
"Now, granted, it's probably about a third of what women go through. [But] men go through this as well, whether it’s another woman or another man in power," he added. "I think our society is less ready to hear that situation is going on with men than they are with women."
In response, Joey admitted that he'd been in similar situations, stating, "The bottom line is, there's been a lot of those crossroads and those thresholds that, you know, of course, we've all been a part of that. And those moments are tough... [and] I just wasn't gonna do it. And I lost out on a lot of parts, too. Big movie parts."
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