Hayden Panettiere shared a chilling story from her past during a recent podcast appearance. The actress described being led into a room with an undressed older celebrity while on a boat at age 18. She opened up about realizing her naivety in the moment.
The 36-year-old actress detailed the incident in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning and on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast. A trusted friend took her downstairs to a small room and physically put her in bed next to the man. Panettiere said she became ferocious, with her hair standing on end, and declared this was not happening before fleeing the room and hiding. She noted there was no escape by swimming away and that the situation seemed routine to everyone involved. The actress reflected that her frontal lobes were not fully developed at 18, leaving her unable to fully grasp the danger despite feeling mature. She added that the experience highlighted how she had lived a huge life yet remained unaware of certain risks. Panettiere also confirmed she came out as bisexual last week, telling Us Weekly it was sad to wait until 36 but better late than never. So... was this just another Hollywood horror story, or the tip of a much bigger iceberg?