Sarah Hyland, famous for playing Haley Dunphy on ABC’s sitcom Modern Family, is speaking out about an abusive relationship she recently ended.
Hyland had to get a restraining order against actor Matthew Prokop, whom she said choked her and threatened to burn her house down. The court papers she filed said that he “bombarded [her] with vile, threatening and emotionally disturbing texts and voice mails.”
Hyland also elaborated that when Prokop choked her, “His grip was so tight that I could not breathe or speak. I was scared and in fear for my life.”
In a recent interview, Meredith Vieira spoke to Hyland about her experience.
“You’ve been in the news recently because of moving beyond an abusive relationship,” Vieira said, “and I related to your story because I was exactly your age, 23, when I went through something similar. … When you have faced adversity, how have you come through it?”
“There are two quotes that I want to say,” Hyland responded. “One is a Dylan Thomas poem: ‘Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light,’ which is one of my favorite poems. It just strikes a chord in me.
“And then also Robert Frost: ‘The only way out is through.’
“People have to go through things in order to become the person they are today, and that’s that,” Hyland concluded.
When the drama surrounding Hyland and Prokop was at its height, an insider told Star that Prokop not only cheated on Hyland but tortured her with it.
“He cheated on her with two actress friends when she was in the hospital,” the source said. “He recorded it, then left it for her to watch on her computer.”
A judge granted Hyland a restraining order that lasts for three years. The producers of Modern Family assigned a security guard to accompany Hyland on set.
