For years, Hayden Panettiere's story was told through tabloids, blind items, paparazzi photos and internet speculation — often before she had the chance to tell it herself. Now 36, the Nashville and Heroes alum is reclaiming the narrative in her new memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
Released Tuesday, the book chronicles Panettiere's experiences with exploitation, addiction, postpartum depression and domestic abuse. But the conversation around the book began weeks earlier, as stories from it started landing on celebrity websites and clips from interviews — including a widely shared appearance on Jay Shetty's podcast — took over TikTok.
The memoir didn't just reopen painful chapters. It brought old conflicts back to the surface.
Her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, issued a scathing rebuttal. Ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson responded publicly. Internet speculation exploded around unnamed figures in some of the book's more disturbing stories.
"There will always be somebody who has a problem with something or an opinion about something," she tells Yahoo of the reactions.
Released Tuesday, the book chronicles Panettiere's experiences with exploitation, addiction, postpartum depression and domestic abuse. But the conversation around the book began weeks earlier, as stories from it started landing on celebrity websites and clips from interviews — including a widely shared appearance on Jay Shetty's podcast — took over TikTok.
The memoir didn't just reopen painful chapters. It brought old conflicts back to the surface.
Her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, issued a scathing rebuttal. Ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson responded publicly. Internet speculation exploded around unnamed figures in some of the book's more disturbing stories.
"There will always be somebody who has a problem with something or an opinion about something," she tells Yahoo of the reactions.
10 days ago
