Hayden Panettiere Reveals She Was Told to Get in Bed With a Famous Male Actor Who Was Naked When She Was 18 Years Old

Hayden Panettiere allegedly found herself in bed with an “undressed” and “very famous” man when she was just 18 years old.

via: Variety

Hayden Panettiere appeared on a recent episode of the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast and recounted one of the more shocking revelations from her upcoming book, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” in which the “Nashvhille” and “Heroes” star remembers being lured by friend of hers into a room and told to get in bed with a famous male actor who was naked. Panettiere was 18 years old at the time.

“Even though I felt I could make healthy decisions, safe decisions [at that age], I wasn’t capable of being fully aware of what was going on around me,” Panettiere said. “It wasn’t until I found myself in predicaments that I realized my perspective completely shifted and I realized I was in danger. By the time I realized I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea.”

Panettiere was on a boat at time and “I had been having a great time. There was no hints of anything like that happening, so I was shocked. It took me by surprise. I was led by somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector and somebody who had my back… [we] walked down the stairs. It was a small room. She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous and this was just an average day for him and this is something that happens all the time.”

“I waited for her to leave and that lion in me, that fire in me. My hair stood on end and I became ferocious. I was like, ‘This is not happening,’” she continued. “But I had nowhere to hide. I bolted. I hid wherever I could think to hide on a boat. There was no jumping off and swimming away. and I realized that there was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation, that this was nothing new to them.”

Panettiere got her start as a child actor on soap operas such as ABC’s “One Life to Live” and CBS’ “Guiding Light.” She had a voice role in Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life” and became a Disney star with performances in “Remember the Titans,” “Tiger Cruise” and “Ice Princess.” Her notable movie roles also include “Bring It On: All or Nothing” and “Scream 4.” She reprised her “Scream” role of Kirby Reed in “Scream VI.” On television, Panettiere is best known for playing Claire Bennet on NBC’s “Heroes” and Juliette Barnes on ABC’s “Nasvhille.”

In recent weeks, Panettiere has been making the press rounds to support the release of her memoir. She publicly came out as bisexual in an interview with US Weekly ahead of the memoir’s publication.

“It was always the fear of not being perfect, and what my team was going to think about it, what the public’s opinion was going to be about it,” Panettiere explained about why it took her years to speak openly about her sexuality. “It was just never the right time, and it was a very difficult topic to articulate properly… It’s sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?”

“This Is Me: A Reckoning” publishes May 19.