19 August,2026 09:58 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Hayden Panettiere (Picture via X)
Hayden Panettiere's past claims about Neutrogena have resurfaced following the actor's death, sparking renewed criticism of the beauty brand on social media. Panettiere had alleged that the company ended its long-standing association with her after she spoke publicly about her battle with postpartum depression.
Panettiere, who worked with Neutrogena for about 10 years, revisited the controversy in her 2026 memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, and during an appearance on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast. She recalled being shocked that her comments about postpartum depression could affect her endorsement deal.
Speaking about the experience on the podcast, Panettiere said, "Neutrogena I was with for 10 years," adding that the brand had morality clauses in her contract. "Of all the things that they would fire me over, this was the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me over," she said.
Panettiere explained that her comments about postpartum depression were not planned. She had appeared on Live! with Kelly and Michael in 2015 and began discussing her experience during the conversation. "I had no intention of, or planned to talk about postpartum depression. It just came up and I was just being honest," she recalled.
The actor said she did not expect her decision to speak openly about her mental health to cause a professional backlash. "It was my truth," she said.
According to Panettiere, she later received a call informing her that Neutrogena wanted to terminate the partnership because of what she had said. "When I got that call that Neutrogena wanted to fire me over that, my representative at the time said, âThat's illegal. You can't do that,'" she recalled.
Her representative's intervention meant that the existing contract continued through that year, but Panettiere said she knew the relationship would not continue. "I knew that that was going to be it, that there was going to be⦠I was not going to be invited back the next year," she said.
In her memoir, Panettiere was similarly direct about the impact of losing the partnership, writing, "Neutrogena canceled my long-standing contract, and it was yet another blow in a year that had given almost nothing else."
Talking about Postpartum depression with magazine Mome, Hayden Panettiere recalled experiencing a traumatic birth with her daughter, Kaya, after undergoing a near-fatal C-section that resulted in severe hemorrhaging, seven blood transfusions and two surgeries. She later struggled with postpartum depression, describing a sense of emotional numbness after her daughter's birth. Panettiere turned to alcohol and, at times, opiates to cope with the emptiness, eventually developing a dependency before seeking treatment. Her experiences with postpartum depression and addiction also influenced her decision to relinquish custody of Kaya to her former fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko. Panettiere said the decision was deeply painful and insisted she never willingly gave up her child.
Her comments have gained fresh attention following her death at 36 on August 16, with fans criticising Neutrogena and calling for a boycott. The company has not publicly confirmed Panettiere's account of the circumstances surrounding the end of their partnership. The cause of her death was recently revealed.
