NEWS Nearly five days after Hayden Panettiere passed away, Neutrogena has issued a statement. The skincare brand has been facing calls for a boycott and an avalanche of criticism on social media after comments Panettiere made earlier this year about the end of her decade-long relationship with the company resurfaced. Panettiere said that after she spoke candidly about suffering from postpartum depression during a 2015 appearance on Live with Kelly and Michael, she received a call informing her that Neutrogena wanted to fire her. Her representative intervened and told the company it could not terminate her contract for that reason. Panettiere said she was ultimately allowed to remain under contract for the rest of that year, but knew Neutrogena would not bring her back. Her contract was not renewed the following year. She also said that after working with Neutrogena for 10 years, she never heard from anyone at the company again, not even a message thanking her for their decade together. “We are deeply saddened by Hayden Panettiere’s passing. For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our Neutrogena community. We are proud to have partnered with her and understand that we made her feel unsupported during a very difficult time. This is not what Neutrogena stands for or who we want to be. Hayden’s courage in sharing her challenges helped inspire important conversations and awareness. We are making a significant investment to a long-standing community health partner to help give more women access to the support they need, including care for postpartum depression. We will share more details with this community when plans are in place. Out of respect for Hayden’s family and loved ones, we did not want to speak out so soon following her passing. Everyone at Neutrogena extends their deepest condolences to Hayden’s family and all who loved her.”