Neutrogena has responded after comments from late actress Hayden Panettiere resurfaced, in which she claimed the brand ended their decade-long partnership after she spoke publicly about her experience with postpartum depression.
In the wake of Panettiere’s untimely death at age 36 on Aug. 16, Neutrogena has been subject to widespread backlash and calls for a consumer boycott. On Thursday, Aug. 20, it issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” by her passing.
“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.”
“Hayden’s courage in sharing her challenges helped inspire important conversations and awareness,” the statement continued. “We are making a significant investment in a long-standing community health partner to help give more women access to the support they need, including care for postpartum depression. We will share more details with this community when plans are in place.”
Neutrogena’s silence
Panettiere—who first rose to fame on NBC’s Heroes—started working with Neutrogena in the mid-2000s.
During a Jay Shetty podcast interview in May 2026 to promote her new memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, the actress said Neutrogena fired her in 2015 after she spoke about postpartum depression during an appearance on Live! With Kelly and Michael in the same year.
“Neutrogena was a huge part of my life,” she said. “I had the morals clause. They caught absolutely everything, and of all the things that they would fire me over, this is the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me over.”
The company has been criticized for its silence in the days following her death.
“When this story broke in May, Neutrogena remained quiet, and that silence has only fueled the backlash in the wake of [Panettiere’s] death,” Kelcey Kintner, svp of crisis PR firm Red Banyan, told ADWEEK.
