Hayden Panettiere pulled back the curtain on a painful chapter from her past, detailing a disturbing incident with a “famous thirtysomething British singer-songwriter” in her new memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
The Heroes and Nashville actress described being led by her friend Stella to a cabin aboard a luxury yacht.
He shared that there the musician was lying shirtless in bed.
Panettiere recalled that Stella urged her to get under the covers, leaving her shocked and disoriented.
“My body no longer felt like my own. The shock was so great that it didn’t even occur to me to say no,” he writes.
Panettiere said he quickly prevented the situation from getting worse by telling the musician, “This is not going to happen.”
He flew to his cabin and prepared to leave the yacht.
Reflecting on Stella’s actions, she admitted to feeling betrayed: “She trusted me, spoiled me, and treated me like her best friend; then she turned around and treated me like a prostitute. I deserved so much better than that.”
The actress explained that she decided not to name the musician, citing concerns about legal repercussions and protecting herself from industry fallout.
“Things happened a long time ago, but it was to protect me and my company from being sued by very angry famous people,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Panettiere said the incident pushed her to seek relationships with people less focused on fame and more based on respect.
At that time she wanted to return home to her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
