Hayden Panettiere’s life is being examined closely after she died on Aug. 16. Fans are watching interviews and reading her memoir called “This Is Me: A Reckoning” that she released shortly before her death.
Fans speculated about who the person was in one of Panettiere’s darker memories. James Blunt addressed the rumor with a timeline.
Hayden Panettiere and James Blunt’s Picture Was a Year After the Yacht Event
Panettiere, 36, said a trusted friend pushed her into a room on a boat and told her to perform sexual acts. She was 18 at the time, and that friend put her in bed with a very famous undressed man. He was awake and had his hands behind his head as if this was normal. The “Heroes” star told Jay Shetty that she “bolted” and tried to find a place to hide on the boat.
Fans are speculating who that friend and famous undressed man were after her death. Some people speculated, after seeing a picture of James Blunt with the former child star at the amfAR charity event in Cannes, that he was involved in this horrifying story. The British singer shared Dean Piper’s Substack on X on Aug 24.
“Guys, it only takes the smallest of AI searches to find out that in May 2009, when the pictures of Blunt and Panettiere were taken, she was 19, almost 20. So, if the incident happened when she was 18, Blunt’s not your guy to start with,” Piper wrote on “WTF with Dean Piper.”
“And as she says she hadn’t met the man before the incident, and that she fled the boat immediately after, it takes nothing to work out that the cabin incident was the first and last time she met the man,” he continued. The columnist shared another picture of Panettiere and Blunt hanging out the next day.
Other Former Child Stars Speak Out About Sexual Exploitation
GettyWhat happened to Panettiere isn’t unique. Another former child star opened up about her experience and offered support to others in the industry after the death of the “Nashville” star.
“It’s not a coincidence that so many former, specifically pre-sexualized female, child ‘stars’ have profoundly sad lives and untimely ends. We were not as protected by the ‘systems’ that look great on paper, as we are supposed to be. RIP [Hayden Panettiere], [Michelle Trachenberg], [Daveigh Chase] and too many others,” Anna Paquin posted on Instagram on Aug. 21.
“It’s a strange small club we belong to and you are worthy of support no matter how our industry made us feel. Literally DM me. I believe you and I will stand by your side. You aren’t alone. Let’s have each other’s backs. It might make public disclosure less terrifying,” her post continued.
There is a multi-agency investigation into Panettiere’s death, according to TMZ. Greenville PD, the coroner’s office, and the DEA are investigating after paramedics responded to a possible “overdose.” Toxicology results related to the event are outstanding.
