Hayden Panettiere is opening up about the difficult time in her life when she had to give up custody of her daughter, Kaya, due to her issues with depression and addiction. During her appearance on Red Table Talk, the actress, who is 33 years old, sat down with Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and guest host Kelly Osbourne. There, she revealed that she didn’t know she was losing custody until her son, who is now 7 years old, was already in Ukraine with her former partner, Wladimir Klitschko.
During the programme, Panettiere was open and honest about her struggles with alcoholism and postpartum depression, but she insisted that she had never put Kaya in harm’s way. Panettiere added, “I was trying to remind myself that if I’m not OK, if I’m not OK, then I cannot be the best mom to you.” She was referring to her own mental state.
“I was going through such a difficult period that I realised the most selfless thing I could do was to make that difficult decision and simply try to work on improving myself,” she said. “I was going through a terrible patch.”
zanettiere continued her explanation of how she ended up losing custody by saying, “She was almost three, and it wasn’t totally my decision.” “As a matter of fact, I was completely unaware that anything was happening until she arrived at the location.” Panettiere provided an explanation for the convoluted circumstance when Banfield Norris said, “You believed this was an agreement that you reached to that it was best that your kid remain with her dad.”
Panettiere was responding to Banfield Norris’s observation. She explained, “At first it wasn’t because there wasn’t a debate about it.” “If [Klitschko] had come to me and said, ‘I think because of where you’re at right now and your struggles that you’re having it would be good for her to be over here with me for a while,’ which, if I had probably had enough of a conversation with him, I would’ve said OK, that makes sense, I get it,
I’ll come there to visit and stuff like that, I would’ve said that it would be good for her to be over Penettiere has stated that she did not anticipate being in the position that she is currently in, and that signing the custody papers was “the most heartbreaking thing” she has ever done in her life. “It was really terrible how it was done,” she stated. “The manner it was done was very upsetting.”
“I mean, it was the worst signing those papers; it was the most terrible thing I’ve ever, ever had to do in my life,” she said. “It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever, ever had to do in my life.” She said, “I was going to go work on myself, I was going to get better, and when I got better then things would change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her, but that didn’t happen.” “I was going to go work on myself, I was going to get better,” she said.
While she praised Klitschko for being “a fantastic father,” she admitted that they don’t always agree on major issues and that she was afraid to speak out due to his power in Ukraine. While she praised Klitschko for being “a fantastic father,” she also admitted that they don’t always see eye to eye on major issues. In addition to this, she mentioned that his brother Vitali serves as the mayor of Kyiv.
“[Klitschko] is under the impression that what he is doing is appropriate. He truly is an incredible parent to his children. But I don’t think he has a good grip on the fact that when [Kaya] gets older… kids need their mothers, “— I quote her. “Upsetting to [Klitschko] because, as I’ve mentioned before, he is an incredible father… but in this particular instance, we most certainly do not see eye to eye.
It’s terrifying, and you definitely don’t want to anger anyone, but especially the person who’s in charge of watching over your child.” Panettiere related a chat they had together that had an unsettling effect on her. “I also remember her dad contacting me and he said, ‘Kaya is going around and asking other ladies if she can call them mommy,'” Panettiere added.
“Kaya is going around and asking other people if she can call them mommy.” “My heart stopped beating as he was laughing because he found this situation to be hilarious. I found it to be really disturbing. In contrast to me, he could not comprehend it; I attribute that to a trauma reaction. This is a yell for assistance.” Panettiere had previously disclosed, during an interview she gave to People in the month of July, that she had reached the lowest point of her alcohol usage just prior to Kaya’s relocation to Ukraine to live with Klitschko.
She explained, “When I woke up, I would be shaking and the only way I could function was by taking small sips of alcohol.” “It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever been required to accomplish. But I wanted to be a good mother to her, and sometimes being a good mother means letting go of your children.” Panettiere told People that despite her melancholy, she “never had the sense that I wanted to damage my child, but I didn’t want to spend any time with her.”
Thank you Father & I’m just getting started 🚀❤️🙌🏼 #Kaya x pic.twitter.com/X4DCdqhuts
— Kaya Jones (@KayaJones) April 27, 2022
Despite her depression, Panettiere said that she “never had the feeling that I wanted to harm my child.” In regards to her connection with Klitschko, which she severed for good in the year 2018, she disclosed that they shared, “He avoided being in my company at all costs. I didn’t want to be in the same room as myself. On the other hand, because I was abusing opiates and alcohol, I would do anything that would temporarily bring me pleasure.
After that, I’d have an even worse feeling than I did before. I was stuck in a pattern of destructive behaviour toward myself.” Later on, the actress underwent eight months of treatment at a rehabilitation facility, which she says provided her all the resources necessary to “get over the hump” of her addiction. She went on to explain that this decision is one that she makes on a daily basis and that she constantly checks in with herself. ”
But I simply want to express how thankful I am to be a part of this world again, and I promise that I will never again take it for granted.” Panettiere disclosed in that interview that she was only 15 years old when she was given “happy pills” to make her “peppy during interviews.” She went on to say that at the time, she “had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”
Panettiere has since come to terms with her addiction. When asked about her decision to get assistance in recent years, Panettiere stated, “I had to be willing to be quite honest, and I put a lot of work into myself.” “Although this has not been an easy journey, and there have been many highs and lows along the way, I do not regret even the most difficult things that have occurred in my life. I have a tremendous sense of fulfilment. And I got the impression that this is my second opportunity.”
