Hayden Panettiere is speaking candidly about a troubling experience she says happened when she was 18.
In her new memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, the actress recalls an incident that allegedly took place while she was aboard a luxury yacht in the South of France. According to People, Panettiere writes that a trusted female friend led her into a cabin and encouraged her to get into bed with a “famous thirtysomething British singer-songwriter.”
Panettiere says the man was shirtless when she entered the room and appeared to behave as if the situation was normal. However, she remembers feeling shocked and uncomfortable almost immediately.
On Purpose podcast,Panettiere says she froze as she tried to understand what was happening. She then realized she did not want to be there and left the cabin, returning to her own room on the yacht.
Looking back, the actress describes the moment as deeply upsetting, not only because of the situation itself, but because of who had brought her there. Panettiere writes that she felt betrayed by someone she believed she could trust and who she thought was protecting her.
“The fact that I was 18,” Panettiere writes, reflecting on how young she was at the time.
She explains in the memoir that while she believed then that she was mature and capable of handling herself, she now sees the situation differently. Panettiere says she understands that she was still young and not fully prepared to recognize or process what she describes as the danger of the moment.
The actress does not identify the singer-songwriter in the book. She has previously said that naming the person could create legal and professional consequences, and that her goal is not to fuel speculation. Instead, Panettiere says she wants the focus to remain on her own story, her healing and the experiences that shaped her.
This Is Me: A Reckoning, released May 19, covers several difficult chapters from Panettiere’s life and career. In the memoir, she writes about growing up in Hollywood, navigating fame at a young age and dealing with personal struggles behind the scenes.
The book also explores her experiences with addiction, family challenges and recovery. Through the memoir, Panettiere offers a personal account of the pressures she faced in the entertainment industry and the painful moments she has worked to understand as an adult.
Her account of the yacht incident is one of the more disturbing memories included in the book, showing how vulnerable she says she was at the time and how deeply the alleged betrayal affected her.
