Hayden Panettiere says working on “Nashville” felt cold and unsupported, telling The Times of London that people on set “made the choice to not protect me.” She also discusses her ongoing custody situation with Wladimir Klitschko and recalls a high-risk invita
Hayden Panettiere’s memories of the ABC series “Nashville” aren’t soft-edged nostalgia. In an interview with The Times of London published Saturday, the actress described the show’s working environment as “cold and unsupportive,” and said she felt left without protection by people around her.
“It’s just shocking to me how little empathy people had,” Panettiere said. She added, “There were plenty of people who made the choice to not protect me.”
Panettiere played country singer Juliette Barnes on “Nashville” from 2012-2018. a role that ran parallel to her own life in ways she found hard to separate.. Her character battled postpartum depression and addiction, and later was locked in a custody battle with an ex.. Panettiere said she couldn’t tell where the character ended and her own experience began: “My character. Juliette. and me as Hayden. I didn’t know where one person began and the other one ended.”
That overlap, she said, made the experience feel even stranger.. Supporting her new memoir. “This Is Me. ” Panettiere also spoke about family life and the stakes of love when people disagree.. About her ex-boyfriend Wladimir Klitschko—who shares 11-year-old Kaya with her—she said. “You don’t have to agree with everything that somebody does.. You can still love them and try to figure out how to overcome those obstacles together.”
Klitschko took Kaya to his native Ukraine and sued for full custody in 2018.. Panettiere said she and her daughter have a strong relationship now, even though it mostly happens long distance.. “It’s not nearly as often as I wish.. I want my child next to me every single day,” she explained.. “I have such a great relationship with her.. It’s so unique because of our situation. the distance between us and having to find other ways to really bond.”
In her memoir. Panettiere also writes about what she described as a culture of being exposed to harm—using a brutal metaphor.. She said she was “raw meat laid out for a bunch of hyenas to devour every single day. ” whether that was paparazzi “or worse.” She then recounted an incident involving a superyacht in the south of France. where she said a female friend invited her and lured her into a cabin with a British star waiting.
Panettiere said she left immediately, but she still described what happened as something she compares to trafficking.. “It was as close to being human trafficked as I have ever experienced. especially being on a boat in the middle of the ocean. ” she said.. “You were stuck and you realise, ‘Oh, this is why they choose to do it in places like this.’”
Her comments come after she addressed a separate wave of online concern about her health and appearance in 2024.. Panettiere responded to a People video interview after fans expressed concern. writing on Instagram: “I would like to take a moment to address the controversy surrounding an interview I recently completed with PEOPLE Magazine.” She added. “It’s unfathomable that I’m even in this position. but I feel forced to address it in a space where I won’t be criticized for how fast or slow I speak.”
She said she hadn’t slept for two days prior to the shoot because one of her dogs was recovering from an emergency surgical procedure.. She also described the shoot schedule: “It was an 8-hour shoot followed by an on-camera interview that was supposed to last for 1 hour.” Panettiere added that the version People posted did not include the start of the interview.
“I was exhausted. My rep stopped the interview early as it became obvious that I was fading — especially as the subject matter became heavier,” she wrote.
Across these accounts. the through-line is how Panettiere says her vulnerability has been met—whether it’s on “Nashville. ” in custody realities. or under media scrutiny—by choices she associates with insufficient protection.. She describes people on set “made the choice to not protect me. ” and later frames her public exposure in similarly dire terms. including being “raw meat” for “hyenas” and an experience she calls “as close to being human trafficked” as she has ever experienced.
Hayden Panettiere Nashville ABC Juliette Barnes Wladimir Klitschko Kaya This Is Me memoir custody postpartum depression addiction People interview Instagram superyacht