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Hayden Panettiere Responds To Accusations She “Abandoned” Her 11-Year-Old Daughter Kaya
Hayden Panettiere is finally addressing one of the harshest accusations that has followed her for years: that she “abandoned” her young daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.
In an interview published on Monday, May 11, the actress opened up about her decision to relinquish full custody of her now 11-year-old daughter back in 2018, a move that, at the time, led many to label her a “horrible mother.”
Highlights
- Hayden Panettiere emotionally addressed years of backlash over relinquishing custody of her daughter, insisting the decision was never about “abandonment.”
- The actress described the custody arrangement as a “living nightmare” while candidly explaining the painful reasons behind her decision at the time.
- Despite years of online criticism, many social media users unexpectedly rallied behind Panettiere after her recent interview, praising her honesty and vulnerability.
But according to Panettiere, the reality behind the decision was far more complicated and emotionally devastating than many people realized.
“It was a living nightmare, and I felt so out of control…” the Nashville star shared.
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Actress Hayden Panettiere has finally opened up about accusations that she “abandoned” her daughter back in 2018
Image credits: JayShettyPodcast
Hayden Panettiere is an American actress, singer, and activist who began her career at just 11 months old in commercials.
Her most memorable roles include films like Remember the Titans, Ice Princess, and Bring It On: All or Nothing.
However, at the peak of her career, Hayden abruptly stepped away from acting and the public eye for nearly four years, roughly between 2018 and 2022.
Image credits: haydenpanettiere
The hiatus coincided with the time she relinquished full custody of her daughter, Kaya, to her ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko.
Hayden and Wladimir were in an on-and-off relationship for nearly a decade after first meeting in 2008, and began dating shortly afterward.
The pair got engaged in 2013, welcomed their first and only child together in December 2014, and officially ended their engagement in 2018.
Image credits: JayShettyPodcast
Addressing both the custody decision and the intense online backlash she received over it during an interview on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, Panettiere pushed back against claims that she had “abandoned” her daughter.
She explained that, at the time, she was trapped in a “horrible cycle” of substance a**iction and depression and felt she could not be the mother Kaya deserved.
Hayden shared with the host, “The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking. It couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The 36-year-old described her custody decision as a “living nightmare” but explained why she felt it was the right choice at the time
Image credits: haydenpanettiere
“It became this horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and al**holism and substance a*use and just me trying to find my way back.”
The actress also recalled an incident when her daughter was 2 years old, and Wladimir suggested that “it would be best” for Kaya to live in Europe with him.
That conversation “did not have a good reaction” from Hayden, who explained, “I went full mother lion. I would’ve burned the world down for my child. So that was incredibly difficult.”
Image credits: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Hayden originally intended to seek treatment, regain her health, and eventually have her daughter return to live with her in the United States.
However, once Kaya moved to Europe, the arrangement became permanent. Panettiere explained, “By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair and selfish of me to pull her away from the life she had created.”
“I know in my heart that she feels supported,” she continued. “I have an incredible relationship with her. I go to travel as much as I can to see her. I do spend a lot of time on FaceTime with her.”
Hayden Panettiere talking about the moment while battling postpartum depression and addiction she had to make the difficult decision to give full custody of her daughter Kaya to her ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko, who lives in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/FFAYoJj4Zw
— y2k (@y2kpopart) May 12, 2026
Gushing over her daughter, Hayden added, “She’s an incredible little girl—so happy, speaks five languages and rides horses. She’s got two parents that love her and I know in my heart that she feels supported.”
“She is happy and healthy mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. She in no way feels abandoned—and that’s something that I’ve made sure to stay on top of and be very aware of.”
The interview also served as a promotion for her upcoming memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which explores her experiences with child stardom, industry trauma, and recovery from a**iction.
“I commend her for this decision so many women that have these issues keep the child and unfortunately it can end in tragedy,” one netizen reacted
Image credits: haydenpanettiere
Panettiere reportedly takes “full responsibility” for her past shortcomings in the memoir and maintains that, despite the custody arrangement, she and Klitschko continue to co-parent mutually and effectively.
Reacting to the Scream alum’s candid confessions, much of the internet rallied behind her, praising what many described as a “selfless” decision and commending her for “trying her best” as a mother.
One fan wrote online, “It’s absolutely the right thing to do when a parent is in poor mental health and is unable to do the job. Parenting is hard under the best of circumstances. She did the right and merciful thing for her child.”
Image credits: Hayden Panettiere
Another user added, “Takes a strong woman to do what she did. She put her child 1st so that she could put herself 1st so she could get the help she needed…”
“We have seen mothers keep custody, with extreme mental health issues, and the situation ends tragically. She did the exact right thing,” remarked a third.
Another person wrote, “So we shame a mom that realized her short comings but we would have condemned her had she a*used or ki**er her… She left her in her father’s custody. I’m sure she’s paying child support and taking care of the child…”
“Sometimes that means having to do the hardest things in the world, for their sake…” Panettiere shared during the interview
Image credits: IGNMovieTrailers
In a separate interview for her cover story with Us Weekly, published on May 7, Hayden again described the 2018 custody agreement as a “living nightmare.”
She shared, “It was a living nightmare, and I felt so out of control. There’s nothing that I could do about it. There’s so much of me that wanted to fight, but I had to ultimately take into consideration the most important thing, which was how this was all going to affect my daughter.”
“Sometimes that means having to do the hardest things in the world, for their sake. Wlad is an incredible father, and I know he was doing what he felt was best for our daughter.”
The actress also admitted that she felt she “was nowhere near the mom that I had sworn to myself that one day I was going to be, and that was devastating.”
“[It] was heartbreaking. I’m such a perfectionist in so many ways that being at least a good mother was just so, so important to me,” Panettiere added. “And such a crushing blow when I was incapable of being, an even semi-decent mom, in my mind.”
She concluded, “I feel like I would be lying if I said that I have, even to this day, been able to fully process them, those emotions in a healthy way. I had to figure out, there was no other option to me, but to figure out how to stand back…”
“Im gonna pull a leave Brittany alone here but leave Hayden be. She has been through so much. She is doing her best…” one user wrote
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LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 hour ago
I was born to a mother who had severe depression AND substance ábuse/áddiction issues. She knew she could not properly care for me in the condition that she was in, and so she gave me up for adoption. It was not a cowardly moment in which she "abandoned" me, it was a brave moment where she looked beyond her own wants and desires for keeping her child and did what was best for the child (me). Hayden's situation is obviously drastically different - Kaya was not a newborn, and Kaya stayed with her father and wasn't given up to strangers to be adopted. But still, as an adopted child, I cannot point fingers and lay blame or a negative judgement on Hayden for her decision. She is the only one who knew how bad of a situation she was in at the time, and she did the right thing - for herself and for Kaya.
Alexandra 52 minutes ago
Let's not forget that every year children are k****d by their mothers because the mom is suffers from depression and/or a*******n and only gets to hear that they are bad mothers instead of support. Letting your kid go where they are cared for better is the best choice.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 hour ago
I was born to a mother who had severe depression AND substance ábuse/áddiction issues. She knew she could not properly care for me in the condition that she was in, and so she gave me up for adoption. It was not a cowardly moment in which she "abandoned" me, it was a brave moment where she looked beyond her own wants and desires for keeping her child and did what was best for the child (me). Hayden's situation is obviously drastically different - Kaya was not a newborn, and Kaya stayed with her father and wasn't given up to strangers to be adopted. But still, as an adopted child, I cannot point fingers and lay blame or a negative judgement on Hayden for her decision. She is the only one who knew how bad of a situation she was in at the time, and she did the right thing - for herself and for Kaya.
Alexandra 52 minutes ago
Let's not forget that every year children are k****d by their mothers because the mom is suffers from depression and/or a*******n and only gets to hear that they are bad mothers instead of support. Letting your kid go where they are cared for better is the best choice.
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