Hayden Panettiere has opened up about a “shocking” incident, where she says she was forced into a bed with an “undressed” and “very famous” man when she was 18.
Ahead of the release of her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, the Nashville star delved into her life beyond the silver screen on Jay Shetty‘s On Purpose podcast.
During her appearance, the now 36-year-old actress revealed how she found strength following an alleged incident where a so-called friend made her feel like she was “in danger” when she was just 18.
According to Panettiere, the alleged incident took place while she was attending a boat party with friends. During the party, the actor said she was “led by somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector and somebody who had my back” downstairs into a “very small” room.
When they entered, Panettiere claimed the friend, whom she didn’t name, “physically” put her in a bed next to an “undressed” and “very famous” man.
“She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous,” the Heroes star said.
“He had his hands like this,” she said, gesturing that the man had placed his hands behind his head, before adding that he acted “like this was just an average day for him, and this is something that happens all the time”.
Recalling the alleged incident, Panettiere said her adrenaline kicked in, and that she “became ferocious”.
“I was like, ‘This is not happening’,” she said before revealing that she “bolted and hid wherever [she] could think of” on the boat.
“There was no jumping off and swimming away,” she added.
“And I realised that there was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation, that this was nothing new to them.”
Reflecting on the ordeal, Panettiere admitted she was taken “by surprise” and was “disappointed” by the friend.
“I’ve been let down so much before that when you really find someone that you trust, you hold on to them for dear life, and you feel so lucky, so just to be betrayed like that, it’s just an awful feeling,” she added.
The dark revelation comes shortly after the beloved actor came out as bisexual, admitting to Us Weekly how she avoided her attraction to women because she felt like she was “forced to be perfect at all times” earlier in her career.
“I was not encouraged to just be myself,” she told the publication.
“No one ever encouraged me to just be myself, and then it came, the period of time, where it felt like people coming out, especially women coming out, and saying that they were bisexual, or liked girls, was a fad.”
In response to the news, Panettiere’s estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, told Daily Mail that it was “interesting timing” for the actor to share it now.
This Is Me: A Reckoning by Panettiere is expected to drop in Australia on May 19.
Image source: Getty Images & YouTube via Jay Shetty
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