Hayden Panettiere Reveals She Was Fired by Neutrogena for Opening Up About Postpartum Depression

Hayden Panettiere spent years perfectly splashing water on her face on camera as a spokesperson for Neutrogena. However, the former child star revealed the devastating reason she was dropped by the company after a decade.

“Neutrogena, I was with for 10 years. I mean, they have morals clauses, which had a huge impact in my life,” Panettiere, 36, explained during her Monday, May 11, appearance on the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast. “I was a teenager, and I had all of the paparazzi around me catching all of these gory moments. Like, every moment, every cigarette that I smoked, or bad outfit, or ‘She’s looking chunky in a bathing suit,’ ‘Oh, she has a fat vagina.’ I went through all of that. They were there for everything.”

However, it wasn’t until a 2015 appearance on Live! With Kelly and Michael, when the actress opened up about her experience with postpartum depression that Neutrogena decided to enforce the clause.

“Neutrogena was a huge part of my life,” the Nashville star continued. “Of all the things that they would fire me over, this was the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me over…Never for a second did I think or care that anyone would have a bad reaction to it. It was my truth.”

Panettiere explained that her rep fought for her, calling the company’s move “illegal,” but when it came time to renew her contract, Neutrogena did not invite her back.

“I had worked with these people for 10 years and I remember not hearing a word from anybody,” she explained through tears. “Not a, ‘Great working with you for 10 years.’ Not a, ‘Hope you’re good, wish you well.’ And I remember that really breaking my heart.”

Despite the heartbreak, the Remember the Titans actress — who shares daughter Kaya, 11, with ex Wladimir Klitschko — “wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“As I said, of all the things that I had been caught doing, that being the thing that was where they drew the line, and it was immoral, was shocking to me,” she told Shetty. “It made me realize and understand exactly what people thought of women who experience postpartum depression and how misunderstood it is, how much stigma there is around it.”