“Modern Family” alum Ariel Winter is opening up about her traumatic childhood stardom.
The actor was only 11 years old when she was cast in 2009 in the ABC sitcom as teenage introvert Alex Dunphy. While she found fame and recognition for her performance throughout the show’s 11-year run, Winter recalled Hollywood being “a dark place” in a wide-ranging interview Thursday with the Every day Mail.
“I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age,” Winter instructed the outlet. “I don’t wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it caused trauma.”
“The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I’ve had to go to therapy for it,” the actor, now 27, continued. “The movie and TV industry is a dark place.”
Winter, who left Los Angeles after “Modern Family” resulted in 2020, just lately instructed Folks that the town “holds some not-great memories” for her. She mentioned she was “pushed into the industry” at 4 years outdated by her “stage mom,” Chrisoula “Crystal” Workman, who needed her to be well-known.
Winter was faraway from her residence in 2012 following abuse allegations in opposition to her mom, who was reportedly accused in court docket paperwork of pushing, hitting and slapping Winter — and allegedly imposing such a strict weight loss program that Winter’s co-stars would secretly give her meals. Workman was additionally accused of dressing Winter in extremely inappropriate outfits for her age.
The Division of Youngsters and Household Companies later confirmed the emotional abuse allegations, and guardianship over Winter was transferred to her grownup sister, Shanelle Grey. Workman has denied the allegations; Winter was emancipated from her mom in 2015.
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Winter has additionally opened up in regards to the on-line harassment she endured throughout her teenage years, telling Folks in Could that she needed to endure “grown people” describing her in articles as wanting like a “like a fat slut.”
“I mean, I was 14,” she instructed the outlet. “It totally damaged my self-esteem.”
Winter has since discovered goal in teaming up with the nonprofit SOSA (or Secure from On-line Intercourse Abuse), which targets sexual predators on-line and lures them into the open. Winter just lately posed as a 12-year-old decoy for a sting operation in Oklahoma Metropolis.
“It can be scary at times pretending to be 12 and [talking] to older men, but it’s validating to put away predators that have been harming children,” she instructed the Every day Mail.
“Growing up in the entertainment industry, I’ve been the girl we are trying to save,” she mentioned. “It’s vital to me to help protect young women from the experiences I endured in my own life.”
Need assistance? Go to RAINN’s Nationwide Sexual Assault On-line Hotline or the Nationwide Sexual Violence Useful resource Middle’s web site.
