Hayden Panettiere has pulled back the curtain on a painful chapter in her past, detailing a disturbing incident with a “famous British singer-songwriter in her 30s” in her new memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
The Heroes and Nashville actress described being taken to a cabin on a luxury yacht by her friend Stella.
She shared that the musician was lying shirtless in bed.
Panettiere remembers Stella urging her to get under the sheets, leaving her shocked and disoriented.
“My body no longer looked like me. The shock was so great that I didn’t even have the idea of saying no,” she wrote.
Panettiere said she quickly stopped the situation from escalating by telling the musician, “That’s not going to happen.”
She flew back to her cabin and arranged to leave the yacht.
Reflecting on Stella’s actions, she admitted feeling betrayed: “She confided in me, pampered me and treated me like her best friend – then turned around and treated me like a call girl. I deserved way better than that.”
The actress explained that she chose not to name the musician, citing concerns about legal repercussions and protecting herself from industry fallout.
“These things happened a long time ago, but it was to protect me and my company from being sued by very angry famous people,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Panettiere said the incident pushed her to seek relationships with people who were less focused on fame and more based on respect.
At the time, she wanted to return home to her former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
