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Hayden Panettiere shared a traumatising incident from her teen years involving a boat and a "very famous" man in a recent interview.
The Bring it On actress revealed that she was nearly forced into participating in sexual acts with an unnamed older celebrity during a yacht party when she was 18.
On the Monday, May 11 episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, Hayden said, "I thought I was oh so mature at 18 even though I felt like I could make healthy decisions, safe decisions, I wasn't capable of being fully aware of what was going on around me."
"It wasn't until I found myself in predicaments that I realised my perspective completely shifted and I realised that I was in danger," the 36-year-old noted.
She added, "But by the time I'd realised I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea."
Hayden shared that she was enjoying a party during her teenage years when she was pulled away by someone she trusted to meet an older celebrity, whose name she did not reveal.
"It was a very small room and she physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous and had his hands like this," Hayden explained, placing her hands on the back of her head, "just like an average day for him and this is something that happens all the time."
Explaining the incident, which the actress also penned in details in her upcoming memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Hayden shared that while she was terrified, she was ready to defend herself.
"I became ferocious," she noted. "I was like, 'This is not happening.' But I had nowhere to hide. I bolted, and I hid wherever I could think of on a boat."
"There was no jumping off and swimming away," she continued. "There was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation. This was nothing new to them."
Sharing the incident, Hayden highlighted how the most devastating outcome was the trust broken between her and the "friend" who led her to the room, adding, "It's disappointing when somebody lets you down like that."
Notably, Hayden Panettiere's memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, is scheduled for release on May 19, 2026.
