Hayden Panettiere set record straight on custody ‘misconception’ before her death aged 36

In an interview just months before her tragic death at age 36, Hayden Panettiere spoke out about the “common misconception” surrounding the custody of her daughter. 

The Heroes star died on Sunday, August 16, her father Skip Panettiere confirmed in a statement. “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” he said.

“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 on screen.” He went on to ask for privacy “as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss”. 

The Greenville Police Department confirmed Panettiere’s death is currently under investigation, but said as of now there are no signs of foul play.

In May, just three months prior to her tragic passing, Panettiere published her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, where she opened up about being a child star, her breakout roles in Heroes and Nashville, and her personal battles with addiction and the Hollywood system. 

She also spoke about her battle with postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, in December 2014.

Her ongoing journey to recovery led to Panettiere giving full custody to the father, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, in 2018. 

The actress got candid about the situation in an interview on the Jay Shetty Podcast back in May, where she revealed the biggest misconception about her relationship with Kaya. 

“There’s been a very common misconception that I just gave up my child, when that could not be farther from the truth,” she said. 

In prior interviews, she had spoken about how traumatic and difficult the birth was, with Panettiere nearly dying after experiencing severe bleeding and requiring blood transfusions. 

Panettiere explained that after Kaya’s birth, she knew something was “terribly, terribly wrong”. Although she never experienced hostility towards her daughter, she struggled to connect with her in the way she had expected and was overwhelmed by anxiety and stress. 

When Kaya was around four months old, Panettiere told Klitschko she desperately needed help and entered a treatment facility during a break from Nashville. 

However, she said she was initially treated for her alcoholism, which she had an “on and off battle with” for a long time. No one mentioned postpartum depression, leaving her feeling as though she was “unfixable”. 

That struggle continued for years, with Panettiere describing a cycle of depression, anxiety, alcoholism and substance abuse as she repeatedly sought treatment. 

She also pushed back against another misconception surrounding this period of her life: that other people had forced her to get help.

“I have been the one who sought it out, who was saying, ‘I desperately need help,’” she told Shetty, explaining that even those closest to her initially didn’t understand what was happening.

When Kaya was around two-and-a-half, Klitschko decided he believed it would be best for their daughter to live in Europe. Far from simply accepting the decision, Panettiere recalled going “mother lion”, adding, “I would have burnt the world down for my child.”

But Kaya had already spent significant time travelling between the US and Europe due to her parents’ respective careers. She had family and friends there, was involved in extracurricular activities and was learning the languages. 

By the time Panettiere had recovered, she said uprooting her daughter from the life she’d established would have felt “unfair” and “selfish”.

It’s why Panettiere was particularly hurt by the suggestion she had simply chosen to give her daughter away.

“The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be okay with it is heartbreaking,” she said. “It couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Despite living on different continents, Panettiere said she travelled to see Kaya whenever she could and spent significant time with her on FaceTime, describing their relationship as an “incredible” bond. 

She was also adamant that her daughter did not feel abandoned and knew she had two parents who loved her.

Featured image credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock/X/@haydenpanettier