- Hayden Panettiere has opened up about a terrifying moments of her early years in Hollywood.
- The experience left her trapped, isolated and forced into survival mode.
- It happened when she was just 18
Hayden Panettiere has opened up about one of the most terrifying moments of her early years in Hollywood. The experience, as the actress said, left her trapped, isolated and forced into survival mode when she was just 18.
Speaking on Monday's episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, the actress shared details from her upcoming memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. She recalled being unexpectedly placed in a compromising situation with a “very famous” man while out on a boat with people she trusted.
Panettiere said the night felt harmless and social until someone she thought was a protector took her downstairs into a small room in the boat.
“She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous,” Panettiere recalled. She said the man -- who she didn't name -- behaved “like this was just an average day for him and this is something that happens all the time”.
The moment immediately triggered alarm bells for the actress and her gut instinct kicked in. “My hair stood on end and I became ferocious. I was like, ‘This is not happening',” she recounted.
Panettiere explained that the setting made the situation even more terrifying because there was nowhere to go, adding that she was “quite literally out to sea”.
Unable to escape the boat, the actress said she managed to get out of the room and hide elsewhere while trying to process what was happening around her. “And I realised that there was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation, that this was nothing new to them,” she continued.
Looking back now at that phase in her life, Panettiere admitted she had overestimated how emotionally prepared she was to navigate the entertainment industry as a young adult.
During promotions, the actor has spoken publicly about other deeply personal parts of her life, including coming out as bisexual. In one of the conversations, she even discussed the challenges of dating women privately while trying to avoid media attention. The memoir releases on May 19.
