Neutrogena has addressed Hayden Panettiere’s death after fans called to boycott the brand over resurfaced claims about why the actress was fired from a partnership.
“We are deeply saddened by Hayden Panettiere’s passing,” the skincare company said in a statement shared via Instagram on Thursday, August 20. “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.”
Panettiere, who died at age 36 on Sunday, August 16, served as a spokeswoman for Neutrogena from 2005 to 2015. During a May interview with Us, the Nashville alum claimed that she had been dropped by the brand after she spoke out publicly about her experience with postpartum depression. (Panettiere shares daughter Kaya, 11, with ex Wladimir Klitschko.)
Neutrogena continued in their statement on Thursday, “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 postpartum depression. We will share more details with this community when plans are in place.”
The brand added that it chose not to speak out sooner out of “respect for Hayden’s family and loved ones.”
“Everyone at Neutrogena extends their deepest condolences to Hayden’s family and all who loved her,” the company concluded.
Hayden’s dad, Skip Panettiere, confirmed the Ice Princess star’s death in a statement to Us on Sunday.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen,” Skip said in a statement. “We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
The Greenville Police Department and Greenville County Coroner’s Office in South Carolina confirmed that officers responded to reports of an “unresponsive female” at an apartment complex, later identified as Hayden, and a possible “drug overdose.” (Hayden had been open about her struggles with drug and alcohol addiction amid her battle with PPD.)
An autopsy found “no signs of trauma that would have contributed” to Hayden’s death, the coroner’s office confirmed to Us. The cause and manner of her death “remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.”
Three months before her death, Hayden published her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she detailed her journey as a child actress, her relationships and her battles with addiction and PPD. At one point, she reflected on how Neutrogena’s “strict morality clause” and “squeaky clean product identity” affected her image.
“My relationship with Neutrogena helped dictate every outfit I wore, every hair and makeup choice, and how I acted when I was out on the town,” she wrote. “I never let the paparazzi see me holding a drink — underage Neutrogena girls didn’t do that — and while I didn’t force myself to dress modestly, I never showed too much skin. I started walking through my life playing the role of Hayden Panettiere, Neutrogena Girl, and, at times, that was a high standard impossible to uphold. Once again, I couldn’t stand to let anyone down.”
During her sit-down with Us, Hayden recalled finding out that she would not be invited to renew her contract with the brand.
“After that interview on [Live With] Kelly and Michael, when I said I had postpartum depression, I had no idea when I walked off that stage that I was going to get the call saying, ‘Neutrogena wants to fire you, wants to drop you. They’re not OK with this,'” she said. “And you’re going, ‘Wait a second, of all the things? How can they judge me about something that is so human and so real?”
