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Hayden Panettiere revealed strict Neutrogena rules she lived by before being ‘fired’

She opened up in a candid memoir just three months before her death

Daisy Phillipson
18th August 2026, 18:18
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Following Hayden Panettiere’s death, Neutrogena is facing renewed backlash over the actress’s claim that the brand dropped her after she publicly opened up about postpartum depression.

Now, passages from Panettiere’s recent memoir reveal just how tightly controlled her image had been as the face of the brand, with the late star saying the partnership dictated her outfits, beauty choices and even how she acted in public.

The world is in mourning right now following the news that Panettiere died on Sunday, August 16, at the age of 36. The Heroes star was found unresponsive at a residence in Greenville’s Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex. 

The Greenville County Coroner’s Office has since confirmed that she was found in cardiac arrest prior to her death, and that “no signs of trauma were discovered”. The official cause and manner of death are to be determined after further investigation. 

Hayden Panettiere in Heroes
Credit: NBC

Just three months prior, 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, postpartum depression and the Hollywood system.

She went into further detail on the Jay Shetty Podcast, reflecting on her time working as the cover girl for Neutrogena from 2006. 

Panettiere alleged that the cosmetics brand, owned by Kenvue, wanted to “fire” her after she spoke about having postpartum depression on Live with Kelly and Michael in 2015, less than a year after she gave birth to her daughter Kaya.

She explained that Neutrogena was a huge part of her life and stuck with her through attacks from the paparazzi and media. “And of all the things that they would fire me over, this was the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me over,” she said. 

“I was just being honest, and never for a second did I think that anyone would have a bad reaction to it. It was my truth. So when I got that call that Neutrogena wanted to fire me over that, my representative at the time said, ‘That’s illegal. You can’t do that.’

“Even though she saved the day that year, I knew that that was going to be it, that I was not going to be invited back the next year.”

Panettiere claimed she never heard from anyone from the company after that incident. 

In her memoir, the actress went into more detail about the impact her work with the brand had on her life at the time. 

Writing that she was young and new to Hollywood, sometimes she wanted to let her hair down, and the place everyone said she could do that was at the Hollywood club Les Deux.

“I was 17, so while I’d spent some time sneaking beers with the DASH girls, I wasn’t a big drinker. Sometimes I asked Stephen [Colletti] to order me a cocktail at Les Deux, but I’d put it down to talk to someone and forget all about it,” she wrote.

“I was also afraid of someone slipping a pill into my drink, so if I abandoned one, it was for the best. Roofie-ing happened all the time – even in the nicest bars and clubs – and I didn’t want to take a chance. 

“I’d also just become the face of Neutrogena, a brand with a squeaky-clean product identity. Not only did I have a strict morality clause in my contract, but I was well aware of what I was supposed to represent as a Neutrogena cover girl. 

“The brand was pure, clean, and natural, and I was meant to showcase that image as an innocent, all-American sweetheart who didn’t touch cigarettes, booze, and happy pills. My relationship with Neutrogena helped dictate every outfit I wore, every hair and makeup choice, and how I acted when I was out on the town. 

“I never let the paparazzi see me holding a drink – underage Neutrogena girls didn’t do that – and while I didn’t force myself to dress modestly, I never showed too much skin. 

“I started walking through my life playing the role of Hayden Panettiere, Neutrogena Girl, and, at times, that was a high standard impossible to uphold. Once again, I couldn’t stand to let anyone down. I became a people pleaser at the expense of the real me.”

While Neutrogena is facing backlash for the claims that it dropped Panettiere after she spoke about experiencing postpartum depression, the brand is yet to publicly respond. 

Featured image credit: Instagram/@haydenpanettiere/Universal