"They laid me down next to him." Hayden Panettiere spoke about the sexual assault she suffered as a teenager and her daughter with Wladimir Klitschko.

36-year-old Hollywood actress Hayden Panettiere, who gave birth to a daughter with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko but later separated from him amid her addictions, leaving him with the child, gave a candid interview ahead of the release of her memoir. In the podcast "On Purpose With Jay Shetty," she recounted how the famous actor attempted to rape her as a teenager and addressed rumors that she abandoned her daughter.

According to Panettiere, when she was 18, she was vacationing on a yacht with an older friend she "trusted." Eventually, the friend lured her into a room and told her to sleep with a famous actor, who was naked.

"I was having a great time and I didn't expect anything like this to happen, so I was shocked. It took me completely by surprise. I was taken there by a woman I trusted and who I considered my protector and someone who would always have my back… [We] went down the stairs. It was a small room. She literally laid me down on a bed next to this naked man – a very famous man. For him, it was nothing special," Hayden said, without revealing the actor's name.

She said that after waiting for the woman to leave, she ran out of the room and started looking for a place to hide. "I thought, 'This can't be happening.' I hid wherever I could, even on the boat. But there was nowhere to hide. There was no way to jump off and swim away. And I realized that no one would sympathize with my situation, that this was nothing new to them," she recalled.

The actress noted that at that age, she believed she could make "correct and safe decisions," but it turned out she "wasn't able to fully comprehend what was happening around her." "It wasn't until it happened that I realized I was in danger. But by that point, I was literally already on the high seas," Hayden noted.

However, she did not specify how the story on the yacht ended.

Panettiere also denies that she "abandoned" her daughter, Kaia, with 50-year-old Klitschko after relinquishing custody amid addiction treatment. The girl now lives with her father in Ukraine. She said mental health and substance abuse issues led her to the "incredibly difficult" decision to relinquish custody of her daughter. "The idea that anyone would think I'd just give up my child and be okay with it is heartbreaking. That's completely untrue," the actress said. The star also revealed that she struggled with mental health issues and substance abuse and felt completely lost. "I think there's a misconception that I was forced into treatment in the past. In fact, I sought treatment myself," Panettiere said. Hayden noted that she would "set the world on fire" for Kaia. But Klitschko felt it was best for their daughter to live with him in Kyiv while Panettiere underwent treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction. "It was incredibly difficult. The fact that my child won't be with me all day, every day... it's impossible to describe in words. It's just a very strong feeling, or rather, a lot of feelings overlapping each other," Panettiere said.

During the time Kaia was with her father, she made friends and was surrounded by family. "So when I finally recovered, I realized it would have been unfair and selfish of me to try to tear her away from the life she was living," the actress noted. According to Panettiere, her 11-year-old daughter is now "very happy" and speaks five different languages. "She knows she has two loving parents, and I wholeheartedly believe she feels supported," the star said, adding that she and her daughter have developed an "incredible relationship."

"I see her as often as I can. I spend a lot of time with her on FaceTime, but we talk about really deep things. We have a really strong, incredible connection, and I'm so grateful for that. She doesn't feel abandoned in any way," Panettiere noted.

Panettiere also discussed her childhood in the entertainment industry and her difficult relationship with her mother, Leslie Vogel, who managed her career from the start and with whom she hasn't spoken since their split. The actress explained that as she grew older, the line between mother and manager became increasingly blurred, and she perceived her mother as "her boss."

"It all came down to business. I became her confidant, assistant, therapist, support in difficult times, and anything but a child," she noted, adding that she finally mustered the courage to sever her professional relationship with her mother when she was 19.

"I told her, 'I don't want us to work together anymore. I just want you to be my mom,'" Panettiere recalled. But she says the reaction she received left a lasting impression. "I remember being hopeful. But I didn't expect her to say, 'You owe me,'" the actress lamented, noting that she was "hurt to find out it was about money."

American actress Hayden Panettiere began her career at the age of 11 months, appearing in commercials. She gained widespread recognition for her role as Claire Bennet in the fantasy series Heroes and as singer Juliette Barnes in the musical drama Nashville. From 2009 to 2018, the star dated Wladimir Klitschko, with whom she gave birth to a daughter, Kaya-Eudokia, in 2014. Severe postpartum depression triggered a long-term alcohol and drug addiction in the actress, leading her to voluntarily relinquish full custody of her child to Klitschko and enter rehab in 2018. Panettiere has not appeared in a film since 2018, making an exception only in 2023 for her role as Kirby Reed in the cult slasher film Scream 6.

From 2018 to 2022, she was in a toxic relationship with aspiring actor Brian Hickerson, who repeatedly and brutally beat her and in 2021 served a prison sentence for domestic violence. After their final separation and her stint in rehab, Hickerson avoided publicity, and the actress herself completely cut off contact with him, calling that period of her life "the darkest and most destructive."

In February 2023, Panettiere's mental health worsened following the sudden death of her only brother, Jensen, at 28, from a heart defect. Now, she's fully focused on promoting her memoir, producing independent projects, and recovering from a years-long battle with stress.

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