Hayden Panettiere recounts painful custody signing during memoir panel

At a panel in West Hollywood promoting her memoir, Hayden Panettiere spoke about the anguish of signing custody documents for her 11-year-old daughter Kaya in a restaurant full of onlookers. She described gripping her teeth to avoid tears, hearing laughter around her, and later isolating herself in a bathroom to confront the reality of the situation, with her father Alan "Skip" Lee Panettiere watching. Panettiere criticized remarks that framed the custody transfer as a personal choice, insisting that her daughter is healthy and beloved.

She reflected on a headline that suggested she "gave up" her child, calling it emotionally devastating. The discussion was her final public appearance before her death, which was later.