Neutrogena breaks silence after backlash over Hayden Panettiere’s past claims
Hayden Panettiere‘s past claims about Neutrogena have kept the skin care brand in the spotlight ever since the actress’ death and on Thursday, August 20, the company finally responded to the backlash in a lengthy post.
“For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our Neutrogena community,” the post on Instagram read. “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 was the face of Neutrogena for close to a decade and she had opened up on how the company tried to cut ties with her after she spoke publicly about postpartum depression.
The company also explained why it waited to respond. “Out of respect for Hayden’s family and loved ones, we did not want to speak out so soon following her passing,” it wrote, closing with condolences to her family and loved ones.
Why fans turned on the brand
The renewed backlash traced back to comments Panettiere made in May 2026 while promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
During an appearance on the “Jay Shetty Podcast,” she said Neutrogena moved to end their partnership under a morals clause.
Panettiere said her decision to talk about postpartum depression was “the last thing” she expected Neutrogena to fire her over. She said the brand’s morals clause meant her every move as a teenager, including paparazzi photos of her smoking or comments about her weight, had been tracked and scrutinized throughout the partnership.
Those remarks drew immediate criticism online in May, including from several content creators who accused the brand of being misogynistic.
The buzz eventually died down but returned in full force after Panettiere’s death. Social media platforms are once again filled with comments urging followers to boycott Neutrogena products.
The 2015 interview that started it all
Panettiere first spoke about postpartum depression on Live! with Kelly and Michael in September 2015, less than a year after giving birth to her daughter, Kaya. She told hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan that she could relate to her Nashville character Juliette Barnes’ struggle with the condition.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding and I feel like there’s a lot of people out there who think that it’s not real,” she said at the time, calling postpartum depression “completely uncontrollable” and painful.
Throughout her career, the actress had frequently opened up on her mental heath struggles.
Panettiere’s death
The actress was found unresponsive at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday, August 16. According to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, a friend called 911 at around 1:51 p.m. after finding her in cardiac arrest.
Responders performed advanced cardiac life support, but resuscitation efforts failed and she was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m. She was 36 and had been temporarily staying at the home where she was found.
An autopsy completed the following day found no signs of trauma that contributed to her death.
Her career and personal history
Panettiere began acting as a child and built a long career across television and film. She was best known for playing Claire Bennet on Heroes and Juliette Barnes on Nashville, roles that made her one of the more recognizable faces of her generation.
Beyond acting, she was an environmental activist who took part in demonstrations focused on dolphin conservation.
Her family had faced tragedy before. In February 2023, her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died at 28 from cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart, along with aortic valve complications.