Hayden Panettiere Says She Didn’t Voluntarily ‘Give Away’ Her Child To Wladimir Klitschko

Hayden Panettiere opened up for the first time about her addiction struggles and relinquishing custody of her daughter Kaya in 2018.

On this week’s Red Table Talk, Panettiere, 33, explained the custody situation with her ex-husband, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

They welcomed daughter Kaya in 2014 and split in 2018. She said that she is not a person who would just easily give away her child.

“It wasn’t fully my decision,” Panettiere said. “In fact, I didn’t even know it was happening until she was already over [in Ukraine].”

The actress was struggling with alcohol and opioid addiction at that time which led to the loss of custody of Kaya.

“I was leaning on the bottle during that time off and it was bad,” she admits. “When I finally called for help I was in a fetal position in bed, couldn’t get out, in tears all the time. Even though I knew I had to stop, I couldn’t. I could not stop. I was stuck in this horrifying nightmare that just wouldn’t end and completely by myself. It was terrifying and I knew I was ruining my health.”

She then sent Kaya, three years old at the time, to her father in Ukraine and thought Kaya was just going to visit her father like she always did.

However, once Kaya was in Ukraine, Klitschko brought up the idea of wanting full custody of her. Panettiere ultimately signed over full custody.

Panettiere believes that this situation may result in trauma when Kaya grows older.

“I also remember her dad calling me and telling me Kaya’s going around and asking other women if she can call them mommy,” she said in the episode. “My breath hitched and my heart stopped, and he was laughing. He thought this was funny and it was horrifying to me”

“That’s a cry for help,” Panettiere claimed. “It was a trauma that she was experiencing, me not being around.”