James Blunt is shutting down speculation that he was the unnamed figure in a story shared by the late Hayden Panettiere months before her death.
Earlier this year, the Nashville and Heroes star published her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she reflected on the highs and lows of her life in the public eye.
In one passage of the book, she wrote about a friend who took her beneath the deck of a luxury yacht when she was 18 years old, where “a famous thirtysomething British singer-songwriter was lying in a bed” waiting for her.
“He was shirtless and propped up on a few pillows with his arms positioned behind his head,” she recalled. “From the waist down, he was covered by bedsheets, and I could see the outline of his body underneath.”
The Golden Globe nominee then claimed that this undisclosed friend then pulled the sheet away and told her: “I want you to get in bed with him. He has a huge dick.”
She then admitted that “the shock was so great it didn’t even occur to me to say no”, but added that she didn’t let things go any further and made arrangements to leave the yacht.
In the days after Hayden’s death, certain parts of her life story have been re-examined, including this anecdote, with some piecing together supposed “evidence” – including a photo of him and Hayden posing together at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 – that they have alleged indicates that James is the British singer-songwriter being referenced.
While he initially chose to stay quiet on the matter, on Monday, the You’re Beautiful singer shared a link on X to a Substack article pointing out that he couldn’t have been the star in question as the dates don’t properly align.
The article, written by former tabloid journalist Dean Piper, reads: “Here lies the problem with the Wild West of internet chatter. Facts don’t matter. Legalities don’t matter. People are saying whatever they like and getting away with it and that is wrong.
“Guys, it only takes the smallest of AI searches to find out that in May 2009, when the pictures of Blunt and Panettiere were taken, she was 19, almost 20. So, if the incident happened when she was 18, Blunt’s not your guy to start with.
“And as she says she hadn’t met the man before the incident, and that she fled the boat immediately after, it takes nothing to work out that the cabin incident was the first and last time she met the man. So, pictures of Blunt and Panettiere at the amfAR charity event [and] together on the boat again the next day [mean] only one thing – he’s really not your man.”
Pascal Le Segretain via Getty Images For amfAR
Hayden began her professional acting career when she was just five years old, and went on to become known for her roles in the TV series Heroes and Nashville, as well as the Scream franchise.
The actor died earlier this month at the age of 36, with police currently investigating the circumstances leading to her death.
