Hayden Panettiere has disclosed a disturbing incident from her past, alleging that she was compelled to share a bed with a naked, well-known actor when she was 18 years old. The actress, now 36, recounted the experience during an interview on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, promoting her forthcoming memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, set for release on May 19.
Panettiere, who starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing and Nashville, described the event as a shocking betrayal. She explained that she was on a boat, enjoying herself, when a person she had grown to trust led her downstairs into a small room. “She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous and this was just an average day for him,” Panettiere recalled. “This is something that happens all the time.”
Once left alone, Panettiere said her instincts kicked in. “My hair stood on end and I became ferocious. I was like, ‘This is not happening.’ But I had nowhere to hide. I bolted. I hid wherever I could think to hide on a boat. There was no jumping off and swimming away. And I realized that there was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation, that this was nothing new to them.”
Reflecting on her naivety at the time, she noted, “Even though I felt I could make healthy decisions, safe decisions [at that age], I wasn’t capable of being fully aware of what was going on around me. It wasn’t until I found myself in predicaments that I realized my perspective completely shifted and I realized I was in danger. By the time I realized I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea.”
Panettiere, a former child actor known for roles in Heroes, Scream VI, and Remember the Titans, delves into her struggles with postpartum depression, addiction, trauma, and domestic abuse in her memoir. The book, originally slated for May 12, will now be published on May 19.
