Neutrogena has acknowledged that it made Hayden Panettiere feel 'unsupported' during a difficult period in her life, but its new statement stops short of addressing the late actress's claim that the skincare brand once tried to fire her after she spoke publicly about postpartum depression.
The company posted its response on Instagram on 20 August, four days after the Nashville and Heroes star died aged 36. The statement followed renewed scrutiny of Panettiere's account of her decade-long Neutrogena partnership, including her allegation that the brand wanted to end her contract after a candid 2015 television interview about postpartum depression.
Neutrogena Acknowledges Panettiere Felt Unsupported
'For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our Neutrogena community,' the company said. 'We are proud to have partnered with her and understand that we made her feel unsupported during a very difficult time.'
Panettiere's long association with Neutrogena stretches back years, with a surviving 2006 commercial showing just how established she already was as one of the brand's celebrity faces.
Neutrogena added that Panettiere's willingness to discuss her struggles had helped create awareness and said it was making a 'significant investment' with a long-standing community health partner to expand women's access to support, including postpartum depression care. The company said more details would be shared once plans were in place and explained that it had delayed speaking publicly out of respect for Panettiere's family and loved ones.
What the statement does not say is whether Panettiere's account of the attempted firing was accurate. It does not address her claim that a morals clause was involved, explain who made the alleged decision or say whether the company disputes her version of how the partnership ended.
Panettiere Said Honesty About PPD Put Her Contract at Risk
Panettiere discussed the episode in May on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, recalling her 28 September 2015 appearance on Live! with Kelly and Michael. During that interview, she spoke about experiencing postpartum depression after welcoming her daughter, Kaya, in December 2014 and said the condition was something women needed to know they were not alone in experiencing.
She later told Shetty she had not planned to discuss the condition on live television. 'It just came up and I was just being honest,' Panettiere said, adding that she was stunned when she was subsequently told Neutrogena wanted to fire her.
According to Panettiere, her representative pushed back and told the company that firing her over the disclosure would be illegal. She said the intervention kept the partnership intact that year, but she believed the relationship was effectively over.
After roughly a decade of working with Neutrogena, Panettiere said she did not receive a goodbye or well wishes when the partnership ended, something she recalled as 'really breaking my heart'.
The distinction remains central to the controversy now surrounding the brand. Neutrogena's statement accepts that Panettiere felt unsupported and promises future investment in women's health, but it does not confirm, deny or otherwise directly answer the specific allegation that it sought to remove her after she publicly discussed postpartum depression.
Former Teen Model Shares Separate Backstage Account
A separate Threads account posted on 20 August has added to scrutiny of Neutrogena's past advertising environment. Victoria Podesta said she was 16 when she attended a 2013 commercial shoot, where she met Panettiere, Jennifer Garner and Emma Roberts.
Podesta alleged that models worked for around seven hours as staff became increasingly harsh while they grew exhausted. She said the experience frightened her enough to turn down an offer to appear in a Neutrogena shoot herself.
'For me, meeting Hayden was the beautiful part of that day,' Podesta wrote. Her account has not been independently verified and concerns a separate shoot, so it does not corroborate Panettiere's contract allegation, but it adds another firsthand claim about the brand's advertising environment.
