Hayden Panettiere’s fans want revenge from Neutrogena in the wake of the actress unexpectedly losing her life on August 16.
After the 36-year-old actress was found unresponsive inside a Greenville apartment in South Carolina, fans resurrected old videos where Panettiere shared the painful story of Neutrogena allegedly dropping her for candidly sharing her postpartum struggles with the world.
“I will never buy one of their products again in my life,” one fan said.
Hayden Panettiere’s fans want revenge from Neutrogena in the wake of the actress unexpectedly losing her life
Over the past few days, Hayden Panettiere’s heartbroken fanbase have been picking apart her interviews and searching for signs they may have missed in her last public appearances.
One particular point of contention has been Panettiere’s claims of being abandoned by Neutrogena when she needed them the most.
The Heroes star had a decade-long relationship with Neutrogena as a brand ambassador and spokesperson.
She was the face of several advertising campaigns for the brand from around 2005 to 2015.
For millennials, her commercials became a “core memory” from their younger years, as one social media user put it.
Panettiere said in previous interviews that the skincare giant wanted to “fire” her after she opened up about experiencing postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya.
The actress had welcomed Kaya in 2014 with former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
“When I was honest about postpartum depression on Live With Kelly and Michael [in 2015], the repercussions were shocking,” Panettiere told Us Weekly in May while talking about her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
“Neutrogena wants to fire you. They’re not OK with this,” Panettiere was allegedly told
“After that interview, I had no idea when I walked off that stage that I was going to get the call saying ‘Neutrogena wants to fire you. They’re not OK with this,’” she recalled.
The actress said she was most surprised that they would “judge” her for something “so human and so real.”
Panettiere said the brand stood by her for about 10 years, even as the media and the public would scrutinize her as a teen, but they ultimately severed ties with her, allegedly claiming her discussion about postpartum was a violation of their “morality clause.”
“Of all the things that people representing your company have done, the thing that you’re going to say is not allowed and that breaks the morality clause is speaking about my postpartum depression?” she said while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter this year.
“That’s not a moral thing, that’s just a scientific thing. That’s not even legal,” she continued.
The Nashville star said one cannot “legally fire” someone for having postpartum depression because it wasn’t a choice she made.
“It wasn’t my fault,” she added. “So that one blew my mind.”
After baring her soul in the pages of her memoir, Panettiere said she was glad she opened up about her past struggles, including her journey with Neutrogena.
She believed the same thing wouldn’t happen to someone in the industry today.
“After I was public about it and talked about the Neutrogena aspect of it, I don’t think anybody in that industry will be doing that to anyone else,” she told the outlet.
The words “Neutrogena boycott” has spiked over 5,000% on Google Trends since her passing
Following Panettiere’s passing, fans have been targeting the cosmetics company for not renewing her contract when she was going through a rough period in her life.
The words “Neutrogena boycott” spiked over 5,000% on Google Trends since her passing, and thousands of TikTokers have called for a boycott or ban.
“I do use their products, but I will not be buying any more, ever again,” declared one fan online. “It may be just a small thing, but it matters.”
“Boycott Neutrogena,” said another. “Normal women suffer from postpartum depression. It happens.”
“Making a brand centred around women and then firing a woman for speaking up ON BEHALF of women who don’t have a platform is CRAZY work,” wrote another.
The hate has been piling onto the brand’s social media account, with biting remarks appearing in the comments section.
In one brand post where the text says, “Friends don’t let friends go to bed without removing their makeup,” a social media user snarked, “Friends don’t drop friends when they’re suffering, but hey.”
Neutrogena is owned by the parent company Kenvue Inc., which also includes brands like Tylenol, Band-Aid, and Aveeno under its umbrella.
Stocks for Kenvue Inc. reportedly slipped more than 2% on Monday due to overall sales numbers, but by Tuesday morning, some of it recovered.
Neutrogena clapped back after their current brand ambassador Tate McRae seemed like she wasn’t actually using the brand’s products
Neutrogena was under fans’ radar earlier this month as well, after some noticed that their current brand ambassador Tate McRae wasn’t actually using the brand’s makeup wipes in a makeup removal video.
The singer, who was named the brand’s global ambassador in early 2025, was sharing her “post show routine” on TikTok at the time.
Fans claimed that while she was using the brand’s wipes, she had her fingers between the wipe and her skin.
They also found it strange that the video showed her using Neutrogena’s moisturizer only on her face, and she apparently placed their eye patches whilst still having eye makeup on.
Viewers questioned why the brand approved the video, claiming the singer didn’t look like she was properly using the products in the sponsored clip.
Neutrogena responded with a cheeky video, where it appears as though a package of the brand’s makeup wipes is making a statement online.
“I see you, and I hear you, girl,” the animated makeup wipes told viewers. “I think I have some reflecting to do too, you know? I’m really, like really good at cleansing your face, but am I even better at causing a scene?”
“I’d like to thank everyone for the sudden attention,” read the caption of the post. “Please respect my privacy as I adjust to the fame.”
“I’ve had good experiences with Neutrogena but if what Hayden said is true, then we have a problem,” one commented online
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