Neutrogena Admits Making Hayden Panettiere ‘Feel Unsupported During a Very Difficult Time’
AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File
Neutrogena released a statement Thursday following the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, who had been a spokesperson for the skincare, hair care, and cosmetics brand for a decade until they dropped her following her public comments about her experiences with postpartum depression.
Panettiere, 36, died on Sunday in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. The county coroner confirmed that she was treated for cardiac arrest at the scene and a preliminary autopsy showed no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death. The investigation is open and ongoing.
The star of popular television shows like Heroes and Nashville and movies like the Scream and Bring It On franchises started her career at just 11 months old in commercials before landing roles on several soap operas. She had been frank about her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, sharing her story in her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, and in media interviews this past May.
In the wake of her sudden passing, clips of Panettiere’s interviews and excerpts from her book have resurfaced, including what she said about postpartum depression and the end of her decade-long relationship with Neutrogena, which is owned by parent company Kenvue.
According to Panettiere, publicly discussing her postpartum depression violated the “morals clause” in her contract.
“Of all the things, too, that they would fire me over, this was the last thing I thought they would fire me over,” she told podcaster Jay Shetty in May when she was promoting her book.
In a later interview on Live with Kelly and Michael, Panettiere expressed how shocked and hurt she was by how the company had dropped her.
“When I got that call that Neutrogena wanted to fire me over that, and my representative at the time said, ‘That’s illegal. You can’t do that.’ And even though she saved the day, that year, I knew that that was going to be it. I was not going to be invited back the next year.”
“I’d worked with these people for 10 years,” she continued, “and I remember not hearing a word from anybody, not a ‘great working with you for 10 years,’ ‘hope you’re good; we wish you well.’ And I remember that really breaking my heart.”
“I wouldn’t change it for the world; I wouldn’t take it back,” she insisted, but the revelations sparked backlash against Neutrogena and Kenvue at the time, which only intensified after the actress’ death.
Neutrogena initially did not respond in May to the criticism or media requests for comment, but posted a statement on its Instagram page Thursday.
View this post on Instagram
The statement read:
We are deeply saddened by Hayden Panettiere’s passing.
For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our Neutrogena community. We are proud to have partnered with her and understand that we made her feel unsupported during a very difficult time. This is not what Neutrogena stands for or who we want to be.
Hayden’s courage in sharing her challenges helped inspire important conversations and awareness. We are making a significant investment to a long-standing community health partner to help give more women access to the support they need, including care for postpartum depression. We will share more details with this community when plans are in place.
Out of respect for Hayden’s family and loved ones, we did not want to speak out so soon following her passing. Everyone at Neutrogena extends their deepest condolences to Hayden’s family and all who loved her.
This specific post was set to not allow comments, but the rest of Neutrogena’s recent Instagram posts are buried in negative comments demanding answers from the brand about Panettiere and urging support for postpartum depression. Many of the commenters expressly vowed to boycott Neutrogena products.
A tweet by journalist Yashar Ali sharing Neutrogena’s statement and a supportive recounting of Panettiere’s story behind it garnered similar responses.
Back in May, Panettiere had told The Hollywood Reporter that she was hopeful that sharing what she had gone through would force a change in the industry.
“After I was public about it and talked about the Neutrogena aspect of it, I don’t think anybody in that industry will be doing that to anyone else,” she said.
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