Despite being in an industry that many people only dream of, Heroes and Bring It On star Hayden Panettiere hasn't had the best of luck.
With her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning coming out soon, Panettiere has been opening up about her experiences with discrimination and abuse, this time on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, shedding light on one very popular skincare line.
For 10 years, Panettiere was essentially the face of Neutrogena, to the point that many consumers could not think of one without the other.
While the Ice Princess actor was impressed by the many times the brand stood by her, like when paparazzi wrote unseemly takes about her or when she went through a rebellious phase. But talking about her mental health was, apparently, the breaking point.
Panettiere reflected to Shetty:
"Neutrogena, I was with for 10 years."
"I mean, they have morals clauses, which had a huge impact in my life."
"I was a teenager, and I had all of the paparazzi around me catching all of these gory moments. Like, every moment, every cigarette that I smoked, or bad outfit, or ‘She’s looking chunky in a bathing suit,’ ‘Oh, she has a fat vagina.’"
"I went through all of that. They were there for everything."
But in 2015, when Panettiere appeared on Live! with Kelly and Michael and opened up about her postpartum depression, everything suddenly took a downward turn.
"Neutrogena was a huge part of my life."
"Of all the things that they would fire me over, this was the last thing that I thought they would ever fire me over…"
"Never for a second did I think or care that anyone would have a bad reaction to it. It was my truth."
"I had worked with these people for 10 years, and I remember not hearing a word from anybody."
"Not a, ‘Great working with you for 10 years,' or 'Hope you’re good, wish you well.’ And I remember that really breaking my heart."
It opened Panettiere's eyes to the very real stigmas that exist around postpartum depression.
"Of all the things that I had been caught doing, that being the thing that was where they drew the line, and it was 'immoral,' was shocking to me."
"It made me realize and understand exactly what people thought of women who experience postpartum depression and how misunderstood it is, how much stigma there is around it."
You can watch the segment here:
Viewers were furious on Panettiere's behalf and demanded that Neutrogena do better.
Redditors on the "Fauxmoi" subReddit similarly called out Neutrogena.
"Aaaaand another brand I won't buy." - Grrarrgghh
"Booooooooooooooooooooooooo, Neutrogena, boooooooooo."
"Or should I say, Boooooooooootrogena."
"Zero stars. All the thumbs down. Do not recommend one bit." - Possible-Courage3771
"They literally quiet-quit her by not renewing her contract over this. What a blatant disregard for someone's experience." - BiShyGuyHi
" Funny how 'morality clauses' always boil down to misogyny, homophobia, or racism." - dysautonomic_mess
"And then we wonder why people, regular folks and celebrities, don't talk about mental health openly and suffer in silence before something tragic happens. Disgusting." - Secret-Ad-6253
"I don’t get this kind of decision. Like, imagine the good PR they would get from supporting someone through this."
"They could’ve done a whole campaign to raise awareness and support charities, and would’ve got a whole wave of new customers off the back of it. But now they’re gonna lose ones off this instead." - BookishHobbit
"Good for her for calling them out for it. A brand that relies mostly on female customers dropping a spokeswoman for speaking about a personal struggle that a lot of women encounter? Grim."
"Happy to take women’s money, but not to support them." - Kidgorgeoushere
It would be one thing if Panettiere had gone on live television and talked about something polarizing that could hurt the brand, but she simply responded truthfully to questions about her pregnancy, daughter, and postpartum experience, which happened to include postpartum depression.
Postpartum depression is a part of many women's experiences with pregnancy and childbearing, and can make them feel isolated, alone, and unnatural. Had Neutrogena stood by Panettiere, they could have made a lot more women feel seen and heard.
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit