Hayden Panettiere was one of the biggest stars of the 2000s and early 2010s, but in her upcoming memoir, she reveals that much of her time away from the spotlight wasn’t entirely by choice.
Many fans remember Panettiere from Disney Channel Original Movies like Tiger Cruise, as well as her appearances in the Bring It On franchise. She also became widely known for playing Claire Bennet on Heroes and Juliette Barnes on Nashville.
During the peak of her fame, Panettiere spent nearly a decade partnered with Neutrogena through multiple advertising campaigns. However, she claims the skincare brand ended their relationship in 2016 after she publicly discussed postpartum depression during a 2015 appearance on Live! with Kelly and Michael following the birth of her daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.
“It’s something completely uncontrollable, and it’s really painful, and it’s really scary, and women need a lot of support,” Panettiere said during the interview.
The actress revisits the painful moment in her upcoming memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
“Neutrogena canceled my long-standing contract, and it was yet another blow in a year that had given almost nothing else,” she wrote in an excerpt shared with the press.
Panettiere also discussed the situation during a recent appearance on On Purpose with Jay Shetty released Tuesday, May 12. She admitted feeling hurt that speaking openly about mental health seemed to damage her career, especially since previous headlines involving partying and smoking cigarettes never affected her partnership with the brand.
At the time of publication, Neutrogena had not publicly responded to the claims.
Elsewhere in the memoir, Panettiere reveals that she is bisexual and also shares an alleged experience involving sexual assault by what she described as a “very famous actor.”
This Is Me: A Reckoning is set to release on Tuesday, May 19.
