This article was originally published in Woman’s Day on January 7th 2019.
It’s the movie that made her a household name, but when Looking For Alibrandi star Pia Miranda took to Instagram last month to celebrate the 20th anniversary of when she started shooting the beloved coming-of-age film, noticeably missing from her lengthy tribute was a shout-out to her former co-star and good mate Matthew Newton.
Pia, 45, specifically named the film’s director Kate Woods, the screenwriter and author of the original novel Melina Marchetta, and producer Robyn Kershaw. She also tagged her fellow cast members Leeanna Walsman and Kick Gurry, and described them as “pretty fine people”.
The snub comes as Woman’s Day hears whispers of a possible falling out between one-time friends Pia and Matthew over his violent behaviour. In 2007, Pia publicly supported Matthew after he was convicted of assaulting former girlfriend Brooke Satchwell.
Matt played Pia’s crush in the 2000 Aussie film. (Image: Getty Images)
Matthew, the only son of showbiz legends Bert and Patti Newton, was given a one-year good behaviour bond, and Pia told media at the time, “Matthew has expressed his deep regret to me… and I believe he has learned from his mistake”.
However, more than 10 years later, the Wentworth actress has seemingly revoked her support from the troubled actor following the worldwide #MeToo movement.
“It doesn’t make sense for Pia to associate with someone like Matthew, not now anyway,” says a source.
Indeed, in November 2017 Pia told the ABC, “The industry is quite small, so people tend to get weeded out quickly if they’re behaving badly or something untoward is going on,” referring to perpetrators in the acting field.
WATCH: Matthew Newton talks about his troubled past. Post continues…
Pia’s move to disassociate herself from Matthew by not mentioning him in her Looking For Alibrandi tribute post follows recent backlash towards Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain after she hired Matthew to direct her upcoming film Eve.
Jessica has campaigned tirelessly for the Time’s Up campaign, which, like the #MeToo movement, aims to overturn the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace.
As a result, many considered her decision to work with Matthew, who wrote Eve‘s script, to be quite hypocritical, given he was accused of physical assault by his fiancee, Aussie actress Rachael Taylor, in 2010. Rachael also took out an AVO against him.
Matthew was quickly let go as director as a result of the controversy. In a statement issued following his departure, the 41-year-old said, “I am profoundly aware I have a responsibility to lead where I have failed in the past, I can never undo the harm I’ve caused the people I’ve cared about and I carry that shame and responsibility with me every day.”
