Hayden Panettiere claimed Neutrogena tried to end partnership after she disclosed postpartum depression
The actress said the skincare brand attempted to drop her after she spoke publicly about postpartum depression, a claim that resurfaced following her death at age 36.
Hayden Panettiere, who died at 36, said the beauty company Neutrogena tried to terminate her contract after she disclosed a postpartum-depression diagnosis in a 2015 interview. Panettiere, a Neutrogena spokesperson from 2006, described the brand’s strict morality clause and “squeaky clean” image as shaping her public behavior during her teenage years in Hollywood.
In a May 2024 appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose, she recounted that Neutrogena’s representatives threatened to fire her for speaking about her condition, a move she said was “illegal” and that her own agent ultimately prevented the termination. Panettiere added that, despite remaining under contract, she did not expect to be invited back for future campaigns, noting the experience “broke my heart.”
Neutrogena has not responded to requests for comment. The actress’s memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published in 2026, details the influence of the partnership on her personal choices and public image.
Public reaction to the allegations has included criticism of the brand and broader discussion of postpartum depression, a condition affecting roughly one in eight new mothers according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.