Actress Hayden Panettiere appeared on Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk and confessed "the most heartbreaking thing" she's ever had to do.
The 33-year-old mother opened up to hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and guest host Kelly Osbourne about giving her ex, former boxer Wladimir Klitschko, full custody of their daughter.
When the hosts asked Hayden to reveal "the most misunderstood thing" about her, she responded "the idea that I'm a person who would just easily throw out my child, you know, give away my child."
"I mean it was the worst signing those papers and like the most heartbreaking thing I've ever, ever had to do in my life," Hayden continued.
Earlier this year, Hayden revealed to both Good Morning America and People that she had been struggling with alcoholism and postpartum depression "for a long time." The actress revealed that when her hit show Nashville ended in 2018, she struggled and turned to alcohol.
When it came to the custody decision between her and Wladimir, it "wasn't a discussion," Hayden said.
"The papers were to give him full custody and I was gonna go work on myself and I was gonna get better," she added. "And when I got better, then things could change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her. But that didn't happen."
Hayden has spoken about her decision to give up custody of her 7-year-old daughter in the past, telling People it was "the hardest thing I could do."
She reflected on the weight the situation had on her. "The best thing for my daughter was to make sure she was okay, take care of myself and make sure I could be a good mom to her. And sometimes that means letting go," she said.
Hayden has expressed her love for her daughter in the past, telling Good Morning America "she's my favorite little person."
Hayden's daughter, Kaya, has lived with dad Wladimir in the Ukraine but has since been relocated following the ongoing invasion and is "safe," according to Hayden.
