Hayden Panettiere Reveals Horror with ‘Very Famous’ Naked Man on Yacht

Actress Hayden Panettiere breaking her silence, revealing that when she was still just a teen star, she was led into bed with a quote, very famous and naked mystery man while aboard a luxury yacht. We're sitting down with Johnny Depp's attorney to discuss the legal fallout of a tragic story decades in the making. This is Scandal, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Sierra Gillespie. Hayden Panettiere. Dare I say, one of America's sweethearts? I mean, America has known her since she was just a little girl appearing in movies like Remember the Titans. And to think about that cute little girl with the curly blonde hair, the one going head-to-head with Denzel Washington in that beloved football classic. That little girl, and now the allegations that she has just revealed? I mean, it's sick to say the least. On the On Purpose with Jay Shepard, Sheddy podcast just this week, Hayden spoke out about a terrifying incident from her teen years, where she was allegedly led to a small room aboard a yacht, literally out to sea, and placed in bed with a naked older man. On top of this, Hayden says that this man was mega famous and that things could have been taken to a whole other disturbing level. Before I dive into all of those allegations, let me start by establishing the focus of today's story. Hayden Panettiere is a 36-year-old American actor. I already told you about her start to fame in the 2000 movie Remember the Titans. But Hayden appeared in other kid movies, too, when she was young, like the Disney Channel original movie Tiger Cruise, or the kitschy Racing Stripes, where she plays a girl who races a zebra. As she got older, she established herself with the teen and tween crowd, appearing in movies like Bring It On, All or Nothing, and I Love You, Beth Cooper. Then there's her stint on the top-rated NBC show Heroes from 2006 to 2010. So let me just say, she's been in the biz for years. She's been in the biz for a while, and is honestly a household name. She's no stranger to controversy, though. Just a few years ago, she made headlines when she admitted she had a drug and alcohol problem and had signed over custody of her daughter to her ex-fiancee. Hayden has been outspoken about all of this, too, saying that after she gave birth back in 2014 to her daughter, she developed some pretty severe postpartum depression. She said that all of this led to some major drug and alcohol use and eventually addiction. And that's what Hayden had in 2018, when Hayden asked for help. She went to rehab and signed over custody of her daughter to her ex-fiancee, Ukrainian boxer Vladimir Klitschko. It sounds like things are on a positive front these days with Hayden and Vladimir, though, and she now has her daughter back in her life. But there's a new shocking revelation that Hayden has brought to light just this week, and it's going to make your stomach turn. Now, this news broke yesterday, May 11th, when Hayden appeared on the podcast On Purpose with Jay Shetty. Now, Hayden appeared on the pod to promote her new memoir. It's called This Is Me, A Reckoning, and it's set to be released on May 19th. Now, in the book, Hayden talks about a really dark incident, and she speaks to Jay about it in depth. So Jay starts by asking Hayden, quote, You write about a moment in your career where a friend of yours takes you onto a boat. You're led to a room which has an older man in it and then basically told to perform sexual acts. I mean, the fact that I was 18, even though I'd lived such a huge life, and I thought I was going to die, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. I thought I was, oh, so mature at 18. You know, scientifically, you know, your frontal lobe doesn't develop until we're, what, 25, 26. So even though I felt like I could make healthy decisions, safe decisions, I wasn't capable of being fully aware of what was going on around me. And it wasn't until I found myself in predicaments that I realized my perspective completely shifted, and I realized that I was in danger. But by the time I'd realized I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea. As Hayden explains, she was having a great time on this yacht. She had no indication that anything strange was coming. I was led by someone that I had grown to trust and see as a protector and somebody who had my back. And to be walked down, you know, down the stairs, and it was like a surprise, presented as though it was a surprise. Hayden says this person led her into a really small cabin room aboard this ship. She goes on to say, quote, She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed, who was very famous. And he had his hands like this, relaxing behind his head. Like this was just, you know, an average day for him. This is something that happens all the time. Hayden waited for the person to leave the room and then decided to act. She said, quote, That lion in me, that fire in me, that my hair stood on end and I became ferocious. I was like, this is not happening. But I had nowhere to hide. And I bolted and I hid wherever I could think of to hide on a boat. There was no jumping off and swimming away. I realized that there was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation, that this was nothing new to them. About this betrayal, Hayden went on to say, quote, It's disappointing when somebody lets you down like that. And I'd been let down so much before. And that when you really find somebody that you trust, like you hold on to them for dear life and you feel so lucky. So to be betrayed like that is just an awful feeling. And this isn't the first time we've heard really disturbing allegations coming out of Hollywood. So this, of course, made some headlines. And I do again want to note Hayden appeared on the podcast to promote her coming memoir. And she writes about this alleged incident in the book. But even if she's trying to drum up attention and press for her coming book sales, these allegations are still deplorable. Technically, she was an adult, but she was still a teenager when this happened. And even regardless of age, this all screams grooming and possibly an alleged sexual assault in the making. Thankfully, though, at least according to what Hayden said on this podcast, she was able to escape. But there are still so many questions about what could have happened or what the repercussions could be. So let's turn to our interview to take an even deeper dive. Wow, these allegations are just really shocking and tough to talk about. But I do want to understand any sort of legal implications that there may be. So let's bring on today's guest. It's trial attorney Ben Chu, who a lot of you probably recognize from repping Johnny Depp in a little trial. A lot of us followed a couple of years back. So Ben, thanks for coming on. Thank you so much for having me on the show. And I guess let's start with all of that, because you were there front row for this trial that the world over watched. And everyone was really interested, basically because we all knew Johnny Depp from the movies, the red carpet. But to see behind closed doors, that's really what got people interested. And now here with Hayden Panettiere, a lot of us know her from her movies or TV shows or whatever it may be. And she's kind of giving us a look behind the curtain of an allegation, you know, the seedy underbelly of Hollywood. So I guess to start. What are your thoughts about all of that? Yeah, it's great to be with you again. My thoughts like yours are it's an incredibly shocking event to be hearing about in 2026, especially when it occurred only 18 years ago. I mean, this is something that you think about as having happened in Hollywood 50 and 60 years ago in the so-called golden age of Hollywood. Not something you think about happening in this century, which apparently. It did. And that's so you bring up such a good point here, because when we look at the annals of history and, you know, Hollywood, it wasn't always great for women or men in general. But that is something that we heard, you know, the days of Judy Garland or whoever it may be, you know, the terrible things that they had to go through. But to hear about something that happened this century, allegedly when she was only 18 years old, literally a teenager here. So I guess one of my questions and the question that everybody's asking is, who is this guy? Hayden Panettiere comes on this podcast. And says a really famous man was naked in bed. What are your thoughts? Why do you think she didn't say his name outright? Well, she may have been reluctant to name him to avoid legal implications, because if she named him, he likely would feel required to take some kind of action against her at a minimum, deny it and create a kind of controversy. She probably doesn't want to be defined by. And I can understand that, too, because now, for instance, when I think of Rose McGowan, I think of her as the Me Too movement first, rather than, you know, Scream, Jawbreaker, you know, what was that show? Charms that she was on. I think of her as the activist, which is great, too. But I don't know if that's something that Hayden Panettiere wants to be known as. And at the same time, this happened about 18 years ago at this point. So statute of limitations, I mean, has that surpassed? Like, could there even be any sort of legal charges here? Criminal? Rather, well, it would be complicated by several factors. One, as you said, the statute of limitations and then the issue you're getting at is whether it might be told in these circumstances. And I know you've covered a lot of these cases and have a lot of expertize in that area. Another complication here would be the fact that she was 18 and not technically a minor. So that would that would really complicate the legal issues here and the statute of limitations considerations. Other there would be some substantive considerations. Also, it's not clear from the account the extent to which there was physical touching or whether she was able to bravely extricate herself before any battery or touching took place. That's not clear to me from this account. Yeah. So she came out on a podcast and talked about this situation that I guess she wrote about in her book, which is set to premiere or be released. Rather. I believe May 19th, so looking at my calendar. I think that's next week that that's going to be coming out. Yep. Next Tuesday. Sorry, just linking my calendar. So she may go into more detail in the book and she just kind of talked about this right here, but from what we know, she essentially was led to this room by her mentor, a friend, somebody she really trusted. She gets in the room. There's this naked celebrity, very famous man in there. Thankfully, at least according to her account on the podcast, nothing happened. She fled, she ran, but I guess let's pretend that this happened, you know, within the statute of limitations. Let's pretend that this happened right now. Is that still, could that bring any sort of criminal charge to the fact that he was- You know, it's a great, it's a great question, Sierra. And you can imagine if you were representing the actor, you would, you may well have a number of defenses on the merits. For example, he may have had the belief subjectively that she was doing this willingly. In other words, it's not clear, at least short of reading her biography, that her mentor may have done this on her own, or may have represented to him that she was a willing participant in this. So there are a lot of factual issues that would have to be kind of buttoned up before you would consider a criminal action, assuming away the statute of limitations, or even a civil action. Okay. Let's talk about that with the civil side of things, because is it possible that she could bring any sort of civil litigation here without naming him? I know in some cases there's like a Jane Doe situation. Usually that's for the survivor or a person who's a victim in all of this. But could she, I mean, if she had to file or decided that she wanted to, she'd have to list his name, right? Well, it's very interesting. I mean, I have been involved in a bunch of John Doe and Jane Doe. I mean, I've been involved in a bunch of John Doe and Jane Doe. I mean, I've been in a bunch of John Doe and Jane Doe cases, and the issues are fascinating legally. I defended a case in Virginia where the plaintiff, the plaintiff proceeded as a John Doe. The defendant was named, and we were able to successfully petition the court to have that, in this case, John Doe named. There are issues of real fairness involved when you have one or both parties not together. Kevin Spacey was involved in a case, for example, where the plaintiff was proceeding as a John Doe. That was a case in New York, and the court ruled that that was unfair to Kevin Spacey, who was being accused of some pretty heinous allegations, and the court ultimately ruled that the plaintiff had to be named. So these are issues that will be, would be hotly litigated if it came to court. And I don't know that that's the route that Hayden is planning to take, at this point. It seems like it's a soft launch of her talking about this on the podcast. Obviously, it's really emotional. She's got her book coming out. And I guess from the other side of things, do you think that any sort of critics could say, okay, it's interesting timing that you're coming out with this allegation about this really famous man being naked in a bed, and your book's about to go on sale? Oh, that's really interesting. I mean, do you think that's something critics would consider? Sure. And I think that the critics would likely, I mean, there'd be a real interest in finding out who that alleged, actor is. And I could well see someone asking her and trying to goad her into providing that name, because it certainly would be newsworthy. And it will be very interesting to hear what her explanation is, you know, why she came out now, why she didn't mention the actor, why she didn't mention her mentor. That is something that is quite interesting. And if I, if I were her, I would be quaking in my boots because, you know, putting aside the actor for a moment, what her mentor did, if true, is really horrendous. I mean, this is not a way you treat any human being, let alone someone over whom you have, you know, fiduciary duty, you know, someone, you know, who has every reason to believe that you're being loyal to her. And obviously, that wasn't the case. And something you pointed out here, too, she was 18. So she's an adult. But you and I've talked about this in the past. At age 18, we feel like we are on top of the world, that we're adults, you know, we can vote, we can't drink yet, but we're adults, you know. And now looking back, I'm like, oh, my God, I was a kid at age 18, probably a kid until age 25, maybe even a kid now, you know. So technically an adult, yes. But with her mentor, she had to know that Hayden Panetti are growing up in the spotlight. She's had a different childhood than a lot of people. She maybe has different or varying mental health, but she's maturity levels. That would be a huge, you know, betrayal to have something like that. So I'm wondering about the mentor. Is that something if she named who this mentor was, could that also be defamation? Yeah, I mean, certainly. And that may explain why she's not mentioning the mentor's name either. That could be defamatory. Again, as you know, truth is a defense to any defamation action. So it really begs that issue as well. And one of the issues, of course, the first issue we talk about with our potential plaintiffs and defamation matters is whether it's true or not, because we've had cases where we've had to do substantial due diligence to ascertain the truth of the matter before we even get into it. Because the last thing you want to do from a lawyer's point of view or a client's point of view is to file a defamation action and then file a defamation action. And that's the first issue we talk about with our client. And then you find out that there is truth or substantial truth to the allegations. And then you put your client in a much worse position than she was in when you started. Yeah, I mean, that obviously there has to be some sort of investigation into all of this if she was going to move forward with anything. And that kind of leads into my next question here. If this is true, and I'm not saying that it's not, what I am saying is this happened 18 years ago. So I'm thinking about the same thing. If this is true, maybe not like an iPhone now where we have everything uploaded to the cloud. It might be harder to find photos of the time or surveillance video might be scrapped at this point if there was any sort of DNA evidence. And to your point, we haven't heard anything about actual physical contact here. But in order to prove something like this for Hayden, I'm not saying it didn't happen, but wouldn't that be kind of an uphill battle all these decades later? I think you're right, Sarah. I think it would be a real uphill battle. And then we'd get into all the credibility issues you hinted at earlier, which is, you know, why now? You were just trying to sell a book, weren't you? You didn't mention these in 18 years. You know, you may not have been fully an adult at 18, but certainly you were by 25. Now you're 36. Why did you wait an extra 11 years? I mean, there are all kinds of questions you or I would ask as attorneys on cross-examination. And ultimately, it would come down to a credibility battle. Between her, the actor, and the mentor. And the actor and the mentor, of course, would be natural allies in that sense, because both would have a real incentive to deny that the incident happened at all, or to the extent that it did, that it happened, that there may have been volition. So I think there are any number of landmines that she would face as a plaintiff. Her testimony is evidence. And if a jury believed her, she could win. It is tricky. I mean, when we're talking about something from this many years ago, but honestly, even just a couple of weeks on Scandal, I did a story about how Ruby Rose came forward and accused Katy Perry and said, you know, decades ago, Katy Perry sexually assaulted me. And now that was under investigation in Australia where it happened. So it is possible. I mean, it could be difficult, but again, it is possible. And I also am wondering, if maybe at the time that Hayden would have come forward about this, because there were fears for her career. I mean, we've seen this a lot in the world of Harvey Weinstein, that a lot of actors have come forward since and said, you know, I didn't say anything because I was worried that my career would be ruined. I was worried about, you know, being blacklisted or if potentially NDAs were involved in all of this. Do you think any of those back in the day, 18 years ago, that could have been a possibility? Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think to this day, that can be a consideration. So you've got two things. You've got the mentor who obviously had a lot of influence over her career, especially at the time. And then you had this famous actor. So it's almost a twofer in terms of intimidation. It is laudable, assuming true, that she had the wherewithal to resist, to fight and to prevent further harm, which gets to another issue. I mean, I think conceivably, although her story is empathetic, you could see someone on the jury, depending upon how the evidence came in, thinking, well, kind of, this is unfortunate, but nothing happened. You know, there was no sexual assault. There was a fear of sexual assault, which would be awful. But you could see a juror saying, perhaps, you know, no harm, no foul here. Fortunately, thank God, this was not a case where there was, you know, a violation or, you know, a violation of the law. of serious physical contact. Yeah, I mean, it's so tough because I feel like in our line of work or people who are watching this, we've become so desensitized to things like, oh, it was only sexual. Oh, it was only rape. It was only murder. You know, these are really severe things for people to have to go through, think about whatever. But we are in a world where we're so desensitized. So to your point, I could see a juror being like, well, nothing actually happened. Yeah, I was traumatizing and, you know, probably gross for her, but she wasn't actually touched as far as we know right now. So, again, that also kind of leads to an uphill battle. And this last question for you that I have is kind of, you know, an opinion question. But what are your thoughts? I know that you, you know, have worked with celebrities, know celebrities for somebody to come forward and talk about something like this. I mean, Hayden Panettiere was known first and foremost as this actress, child star. And, you know, she's had her bouts with people talking about her, you know, with her custody and her addiction and whatever it may be. But to be somebody who's coming forward, you know, talking about abuse on a national stage, how could that affect her career? Just your opinion. I think this probably helps her career. I mean, it creates the narrative of a heroine. This is a woman who is not portrayed as a victim. This is some horrible thing that allegedly happened to her. And she fought back. She she persevered. She prevented herself from from being a worse victim. So it's a narrative, I think, that puts her in good light. And there's it's a well-traveled path. I think at this point, many people have talked about abuse. This is not a new story. So I don't think there's really any reputational risk for her at this point, especially since she's not naming names. Yeah. And to your point, her story is different than a lot of people because she says even one of her. Quotes is I felt the lion in me, the fire in me that I was like, no, I'm not going to take that. And so for a lot of people, men or women watching this. OK, if something like this happens, we can say no, we can stop up and leave the room or hide or whatever it is. So, I mean, I agree. I think it's pretty positive for her to come forward and talk about this, even if she isn't naming names, which, you know, some people wish that she would. But regardless, very interesting story. Ben, thank you for coming on Scandal and walking us through it. Thank you, Sarah. That's where today's episode of Scandal leaves us for now. If you like what you saw and you want to see more or connect with me on social media, you can find me on places like Instagram @sierragillespie. Thanks for watching today's episode of Scandal. As always, I'm your host, Sierra Gillespie, and I'll see you next time.