James Blunt denies rumours he was 'very famous undressed man' Hayden Panettiere was put in bed with at 18
James Blunt has spoken out on social media to address rumours linking him to a horrific story told by Hayden Panettiere just a few months ago where she was ‘put in bed with a very famous undressed man’ at the age of just 18.
Following Panettiere’s shock death at the age of 36, online sleuths began trying to identify what ‘very famous’ man it could be, with much of their ire focused on James Blunt.
The 52-year-old now taken to X to put these rumours to bed, sharing a link to an article seeming to lay out why the 'You're Beautiful' singer could not be the celebrity Panettiere was referring to.
Panettiere told the story for the first time in May of this year, during an appearance on the On Purpose podcast with Jay Shetty.
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During the conversation, she explained how, as a teenager, a friend she trusted once took her to a ‘small room’ on a yacht.
She explained: “It was led by somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector and somebody who had my back.
"She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous."
After Panettiere’s death the story resurfaced due to online discourse surrounding her mistreatment in Hollywood, leading many ‘fans’ online to speculate wildly about the identity of this man.
Many landed on James Blunt due to a pair of pictures of them together at an awards show and a separate picture of them both on a yacht on the same trip, but these pictures do not actually align with the dates Panettiere described.
Blunt posted on X with an eyes emoji, sharing an article from former entertainment journalist Dean Piper.
The article explains how Blunt had found himself at the centre of the rumour mill, but claims that some details do not quite add up.
The first and most important piece of information debunking this is that the picture of Hayden Panettiere with Blunt, alongside Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Diana Jenkins and actor Justin Long, was taken in 2009 when she was 20.
Online sleuths had become convinced Jenkins was the woman who led Panettiere under the boat due to quotes from the actor stating she had a ‘weird friendship with Jenkins’ due to their 30-year age gap.
Jenkins, however, has since publicly denied that this was her, and the pair met when Panettiere was 19, a year after the boat incident.
This led to fans online speculating about a picture of Panettiere on a boat with Jenkins and Blunt, suggesting it could be ‘the’ boat, however, this was also taken in 2009 and so does not line up with her story.
Panettiere told the story in both her memoir and the YouTube podcast, stating that it was a learning experience for her that, even though she felt like an adult at 18, she was not ‘fully developed’.
She explained, leading up to the story on the boat: “Even though I’d lived such a huge life and I thought I was oh so mature at 18 … scientifically, your frontal lobes don’t develop until we’re what, 25, 26?
"So even though I felt like I could make healthy decisions, safe decisions, I wasn’t capable of being fully aware of what was going on around me.
"By the time I realised I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea."
Panettiere stated she found it ‘shocking’ that the ‘very famous’ undressed man treated what happened like a normal day, adding: “That lion in me, that fire in me … my hair stood on end and I became ferocious… I was like, ‘This is not happening'."
She claimed she ran away from the situation and hid on another part of the boat the rest of the evening as she couldn’t get away, finishing by saying: “There was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation. I realised that this was nothing new to them.”
Panettiere was found dead 16 August. Her official cause of death has not yet been confirmed but reports claim she suffered from an overdose. Father of her daughter Kaya, Wladimir Klitschko, said in a statement after her death: “The announcement of Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply. She left this world far too soon. Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter, Kaya.
“She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives."
LADbible group has contacted representatives for James Blunt for comment.
Topics: Hayden Panettiere, James Blunt, Celebrity, TV and Film
Michael Slavin