U.S. cosmetics brand Neutrogena has addressed mounting backlash over allegations that it ended its long-term partnership with the late actor Hayden Panettiere after she spoke publicly about her mental health struggles.
Panettiere worked with Neutrogena from 2005 to 2015 as a spokesperson and was a prominent face of the brand.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, the company said she was a “valued member of the Neutrogena community” for more than a decade, and that it understands it “made her feel unsupported during a very difficult time.”
Its comments drew responses from people expressing discontent with its apology, saying they would boycott the brand and its consortium of sister companies.
The brand’s statement came in response to resurfaced snippets from an interview Panettiere gave on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast earlier this year, where she said the company, which uses “morals clauses,” “fired” her after she spoke candidly about her experiences with postpartum depression in a television interview.
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A morals clause is a contractual stipulation that requires a person signing a contract to adhere to generally accepted morals and standards of good behaviour, and not to engage in any conduct that could be seen as immoral, or that could risk bringing disrepute or reputational risk onto the other contracting party.
Having the clause in a contract allows one party to end the contract if the other party violates it.
“I was just being honest,” the late actor told Shetty. “Never for a second did I think that anyone would have a bad reaction to it; it was my truth.
“When I got that call that Neutrogena wanted to fire me over that, my representative at the time said, ‘That’s illegal; you can’t do that,’ and even though she saved the day that year, I knew that was going to be it,” Panettiere added, claiming that after her decade-long relationship with the company ended, she never heard from it again.
In its statement Thursday, the company said, “Hayden’s courage in sharing her challenges helped inspire important conversations and awareness. We are making a significant investment to a long-standing community health partner to help give more women access to the support they need, including care for postpartum depression.”
Panettiere shared a daughter, Kaya, with her ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko. He was granted full custody of the child in 2018 as Panettiere was navigating mental health issues alongside struggles with alcoholism and addiction.
In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was published in May, she wrote: “Not being under the same roof with her [Kaya] every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life, and it’s hard to describe the layers of emotion, including sadness, resentment, and anger I felt because of it.”
“I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be, and definitely not the mother I want to be. Trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime.”
Panettiere remained involved in her daughter’s life.
“Despite it all, the bond I have with Kaya is incredibly strong,” she added.
Panettiere was found unresponsive shortly before 2 p.m. at a residence in Greenville, S.C., on Sunday after police received a call for a reported cardiac arrest.
She was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 p.m., the coroner’s office said Monday, adding that an autopsy determined that there were no signs of foul play or trauma.
The cause and manner of her death remain under investigation.
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