Modern Family star Sarah Hyland, who plays Haley Dunphy on the popular sitcom, has filed a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Prokop, TMZ reports. The pair dated for five years and split this August, but only now is the truth about their relationship coming to the surface.
Hyland revealed in court documents obtained by TMZ that Prokop choked her, pinned her against a car and sent her floods of threatening and emotionally disturbing messages via text message and email.
“His grip was so tight that I could not breathe or speak,” Hyland said about the incident in the court documents. “I was scared and in fear for my life.”
Some of the most distressing threats he allegedly made involved setting her home on fire and harming her dog.
Hyland said she knew she was in an abusive relationship at the time of the events. She even asked Julie Bowen, who plays her mom on Modern Family, for help with ending her relationship in a peaceful manner, which clearly didn’t go as planned.
News of their volatile relationship is coming at a time when domestic violence is rampant in headlines, between the Ray Rice scandal and the viral hashtag #WhyIStayed. While there are still things we’re in the dark about concerning Hyland and Prokop, we do know that we respect her for recognizing the toxicity of the relationship and doing something about it.
Would you be able to recognize the signs of an unhealthy relationship? Some of them are not as obvious as you might think. If you're in an abusive relationship or someone you know might be, learn what to do next and how to seek help.
