Hayden Panettiere has opened up about a disturbing experience from her late teens when she unexpectedly found a “famous” man in her bed during a boat trip. The actress spoke about the incident during the May 11 episode of the “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” podcast. Panettiere said the situation quickly turned frightening after she realized she was “in danger” and unable to leave.
Hayden Panettiere opens up about a scary moment with “undressed” man in her memoir
During the conversation with Hayden Panettiere, Jay Shetty brought up a chapter from her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning.” He referenced a moment where Panettiere was taken onto a boat by someone she knew. “You write about a moment in your career where a friend of yours takes you onto a boat,” Shetty said. “You’re led to a room which has an older man in it and then basically told to perform s*xual acts.”
The “Wake Up Call” singer explained that the seriousness of the situation became clear only later. By then, the boat was already far from shore. Panettiere said her “perspective completely shifted” once she realized she was “in danger.” She added, “I was quite literally out to sea.”
At the same time, Panettiere stated the incident came as a shock because nothing earlier in the evening had raised concerns for her. The 36-year-old also shared that the person who brought her there was someone she trusted deeply. “It was led by somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector and somebody who had my back,” she continued.
The actress then described being taken downstairs into a “very small room.” According to Panettiere, she was placed into bed beside an “undressed” man she described as “very famous.”
Soon after, she said her instincts took over. “That lion in me, that fire in me … my hair stood on end and I became ferocious,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘This is not happening.'” Panettiere then left the room and tried to hide somewhere else on the boat. However, she said escaping entirely did not feel possible at the time. Meanwhile, her memoir will be released on May 19.
