'Modern Family' Star Ariel Winter Reveals Personal Experience With Creepy 'Older Men' In Hollywood
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on July 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM EDT
Ariel Winter is bravely opening up about the traumatic experiences she faced growing up in the spotlight, and how she’s spent years working to heal from the emotional toll of life as a child actress in Hollywood.
Beyond speaking out about the trauma she experienced as a child actress in Hollywood, Ariel Winter is taking action to protect others from similar harm.
Ariel Winter Says She Was Targeted By Predators As A Child Star
The "Modern Family" alum, now 27, revealed in a candid new interview with Daily Mail that she began receiving inappropriate messages from adult men when she was still a child navigating the entertainment industry.
“I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age. I started at age four,” Winter shared. “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 actress said the emotional damage from those early years ran deep and ultimately led her to therapy.
“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,” she admitted. “The movie and TV industry is a dark place.”
Winter Recalls Being Body-Shamed At 14
In addition to the disturbing messages, Ariel Winter also dealt with intense public scrutiny over her body as a teenager.
“Having my figure written about was a major part of my teenage years,” she said. “It was just everywhere. It was every headline I read about myself. I mean, I was 14.”
While going through puberty under the harsh lens of the media, Winter recalled gaining 30 pounds due to antidepressants she was prescribed in high school.
“My mental health was my top priority,” she explained, adding that when her medication was adjusted, she “happened to lose all that weight.” But even then, the criticism didn’t stop. “I was accused of being way too skinny. It was hard to be torn down constantly.”
Ariel Winter Says Leaving L.A. Helped Her Heal
Eventually, the star found her strength through self-love.
“I went on a journey of self-healing,” she shared. “I was healing. I've got great people around me.” That healing process took a major turn in 2020 when she and her boyfriend, actor Luke Benward, made the decision to leave Los Angeles for a quieter, more grounded life out of state.
“I just left the city of LA because I wanted something new,” Winter said. “There was a lot of history I was happy to get away from. It's nice to have space, a bigger yard, more privacy, and be a normal person. It's been super great.”
Looking ahead, Ariel Winter also shared her hope for the future. “I want to have a family, so I needed to heal those old wounds,” she said.
Winter Goes Undercover To Catch Predators
Beyond speaking out about the trauma she experienced as a child actress in Hollywood, Winter has spoken out about how she is taking action to protect others from similar harm.
The "Modern Family" star has teamed up with the nonprofit organization SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse) to combat the growing epidemic of online predators targeting children.
As The Blast reported, Winter participated in an undercover sting operation for the YouTube docuseries "SOSA Undercover," posing as a 12-year-old girl online to help expose and catch adult men attempting to exploit minors. The nonprofit partners directly with law enforcement to identify and arrest child predators through covert operations on social media and online platforms.
“Growing up in the entertainment industry, I've been the girl we are trying to save,” Winter told Daily Mail. “It’s definitely cathartic to be teaming with SOSA, knowing that I can make a difference.”
While pretending to be a child again was emotionally intense, Winter said the work is incredibly important. “It’s validating to put away predators that have been harming children,” she said.
Ariel Winter Warns Of Hidden Threats Facing Young Girls Online
The actress also pointed out the sheer scale and severity of the problem.
“I was surprised by the volume of men out there looking to talk to young girls. It’s hundreds of thousands of men,” she revealed. Many of these individuals, she added, don't fit the stereotype of what a predator "looks like."
“These men don’t look like predators. They look like the guy next door. They’re usually married with children and have pets,” she explained. “They seem nice because they talk about their everyday life, but they’re trying to meet with a 12-year-old girl.”
For Winter, this mission is not only about justice. It's about healing.
