Fans revived boycott calls against Neutrogena after Hayden Panettiere died at age 36 on Aug. 16, pulling back into view her claim that the skincare brand wanted to end their partnership after she spoke publicly about postpartum depression. The renewed backlash spread fast across social platforms, with a Reddit boycott post drawing more than 2,500 upvotes and brand posts filling with criticism and pleas for Neutrogena-free routines.
Panettiere had been talking about the issue for years. In a 2026 memoir and in May interviews, she said Neutrogena wanted to fire her after she discussed postpartum depression on Live with Kelly and Michael in 2015, less than a year after she gave birth to her daughter Kaya. She said the fallout stunned her because she had worked with Neutrogena for 10 years, and she said the silence afterward hurt as much as the dispute itself.
That is what made the reaction so sharp when the old comments resurfaced after her death. Panettiere said in September 2015 that she could relate to Juliette Barnes' postpartum depression on Nashville and described the condition as completely uncontrollable, really painful and really scary, saying women need a lot of support. In May, she went further on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast, saying the discussion violated Neutrogena's morals clause and that a representative told the brand, “That's illegal. You can't do that.”
The friction in her account is hard to miss. Panettiere said Neutrogena had stood by her through years of public scrutiny, yet she also said the company moved to drop her after she spoke honestly about a health issue she was trying to explain, not exploit. Neutrogena has been reached out to for comment, but no public response was included in the information available after the renewed boycott calls began.
For now, the backlash has become part of the story she left behind: a death prompting a fresh wave of anger at a brand that many users now say should have protected her instead of punishing her. Whether Neutrogena answers publicly, or stays silent while the boycott call keeps spreading, is the next development readers will be watching.
