The beauty brand Neutrogena has spoken out after the death of Hayden Panettiere led to it facing renewed scrutiny.
Following the news of Hayden’s death over the weekend, a number of her past interviews and comments about the difficulties she faced during her time in the spotlight have resurfaced.
Among these were claims in her 2026 memoir that Neutrogena had “cancelled” her “long-standing contract” with them after she shared her experiences of post-natal depression in the wake of the birth of her daughter Kaya in 2014.
During an appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast in May, Hayden also alleged that she was told that speaking about her post-partum depression experience had violated a “morality clause” in her contract with them.
She claimed: “Neutrogena was a huge part of my life. I had the morals clauses, they caught absolutely everything. And of all the things that they would fire me over, this is the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me for.
“When I got that call that Neutrogena wanted to fire me over that, my representative at the time said, ‘That’s illegal. You can’t do that’. 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.”
On Thursday – a day before what would have been Hayden’s 37th birthday – Neutrogena said in a statement: “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 post-partum depression. We will share more details with this community when plans are in place.”
They insisted: “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.”
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Hayden, who began her professional acting career when she was just five years old, was best known for her work in the TV series Nashville and Heroes, as well as her performances in the Scream franchise.
Following the news of her death, many of those who knew and worked with Hayden have been paying their respects in emotional tributes, remembering her as an “amazing talent” and “an incredible light and force of nature”.
She is survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.
