--- title: 'Modern Family' Star Sarah Hyland Gets Restraining Order Against Ex description: The actress claims he choked her and threatened her life canonical: https://time.com/3425566/modern-family-sarah-hyland/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-24T15:19:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:03.099Z og:title: 'Modern Family' Star Sarah Hyland Gets Restraining Order Against Ex og:description: The actress claims he choked her and threatened her life og:url: https://time.com/3425566/modern-family-sarah-hyland/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5585f838fe213132/6986a51306f2c12fca330e62/495453255.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Glamour Women Of The Year Awards - Inside Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Modern Family' Star Sarah Hyland Gets Restraining Order Against Ex twitter:description: The actress claims he choked her and threatened her life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5585f838fe213132/6986a51306f2c12fca330e62/495453255.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Modern Family_ Star Sarah Hyland Gets Restraining Order Against Ex-Boyfriend  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 24, 2014 3:19 PM UTC  Sarah Hyland (L) and Matt Prokop attend the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in Berkeley Square Gardens on June 3, 2014 in London, England. Sarah Hyland (L) and Matt Prokop attend the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in Berkeley Square Gardens on June 3, 2014 in London, England.David M. Benett—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 24, 2014 3:19 PM UTC Sarah Hyland has obtained a temporary restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, who she claims is physically abusive, [according to](http://www.people.com/article/sarah-hyland-restraining-order-ex-boyfriend-matt-prokop) _People_. The 23-year-old _Modern Family_ actress alleges in court documents that ex-boyfriend Matt Prokop, 24, shoved her up against a car, choked her and threatened her life during an argument in May. Hyland also claims that at other times Prokop threatened to hurt her dog and to set her house of fire. Hyland reportedly asked for _Modern Family_ costar Julie Bowen, who plays her mom on the show, to help “peacefully end” the five-year relationship, [according to](http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/23/sarah-hyland-restraining-order-matthew-prokop-modern-family-choked/) TMZ. \[[_People_](http://www.people.com/article/sarah-hyland-restraining-order-ex-boyfriend-matt-prokop)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3425566/modern-family-sarah-hyland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3425566/modern-family-sarah-hyland/"},"headline":"Modern Family Star Sarah Hyland Gets Restraining Order Against Ex-Boyfriend","datePublished":"2014-09-24T15:19:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:03.099Z","description":"The actress claims he choked her and threatened her life","url":"https://time.com/3425566/modern-family-sarah-hyland/","keywords":["Living","Domestic Abuse"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5585f838fe213132/6986a51306f2c12fca330e62/495453255.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5585f838fe213132/6986a51306f2c12fca330e62/495453255.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Glamour Women Of The Year Awards - Inside Arrivals","caption":"Glamour Women Of The Year Awards - Inside Arrivals","creditText":"David M. Benett—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3425566/modern-family-sarah-hyland/","name":"Modern Family Star Sarah Hyland Gets Restraining Order Against Ex-Boyfriend"}}]}] ```