Neutrogena Addresses Backlash After Hayden Panettiere’s Death, Pledges ‘Significant Investment’ in Women’s Health

Neutrogena has responded to criticism it has faced after Hayden Panettiere’s death. The actress previously claimed her comments about postpartum depression cost her her contract with the skincare brand.

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NEED TO KNOW

Hayden Panettiere died on Aug. 16

Following her death, an interview she gave about her experience of losing her job a global ambassador for Neutrogena resurfaced and led to criticism

In its statement, Neutrogena promised to make a “significant investment” in helping women find support for postpartum depression

Neutrogena is addressing the backlash it has received since Hayden Panettiere’s death on Aug. 16 at age 36.

Following the news of the actress’ death, her comments on her work with Neutrogena were resurfaced. She wrote in her 2026 memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, that while working with Neutrogena as a global brand ambassador from 2005 to 2015, she tried to live in a specific way to adhere to the skincare brand’s “squeaky clean product identity.”

She further shared on Jay Shetty’s podcast On Purpose in May that after she made comments about having postpartum depression on a 2015 episode of Live with Kelly and Michael, her relationship with the brand became fractured. (Panettiere shared a daughter, Kaya, 11, with former partner Wladimir Klitschko.) While her contract wasn’t immediately terminated, she said, her global ambassadorship with the brand wasn’t renewed the next year.

“I had worked with these people for 10 years and I remember not hearing a word from anybody,” Panettiere said on the podcast. “I remember that really breaking my heart.”

After Panettiere died of a suspected overdose, the interview received attention again, leading to social media criticism of the brand, which addressed the topic on Instagram Aug. 20.

“We are deeply saddened by Hayden Panettiere’s passing,” the statement began. “For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our Neutrogena community. We are proud to have partnered with her and understand that we made her feel unsupported during a very difficult time. This is not what Neutrogena stands for or who we want to be.”

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The statement went on to promise that the brand would be making a “significant investment to a long-standing women’s community health partner” to expand access to support for issues including postpartum depression. Neutrogena also wrote that it chose to wait to speak out as a sign of respect for Panettiere’s family during the grieving process.

“Everyone at Neutrogena extends their deepest condolences to Hayden’s family and all who loved her,” the statement concluded.

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Panettiere, best known for her roles in Heroes and Remember the Titans, died Aug. 16 in South Carolina. The actress’ representative confirmed the news, telling PEOPLE in a statement shared on behalf of her father, Alan Panettiere, “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden.”

“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen,” he added.

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