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‘It was horrifying to me’: Hayden Panettiere ‘wasn’t aware of giving up permanent custody to daughter’ until she moved to Ukraine-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro
‘Kids need their moms.’
Hayden Panettiere opened up about her custody battle with Wladimir Klitschko (Picture: Facebook)
Hayden Panettiere has spoken out over her custody heartbreak with ex-boyfriend, Wladimir Klitschko.
The former couple met in 2009, and eventually welcomed daughter Kaya together, before ending their relationship in 2018.
Following their split, it was decided that Kaya should live with Wladimir in Ukraine – when she was three years old – while the Scream actress battled alcohol and drug addiction, as well as devastating postpartum depression.
In a new interview, the 33-year-old opened up about what led to this move, describing it as the most ‘heartbreaking’ thing she has ever done.
Appearing on Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris and guest host Kelly Osbourne, she was asked what the most misunderstood thing about her is.
‘The idea that I’m a person who would just easily throw out my child, give away my child,’ Hayden admitted. ‘As mothers, sometimes we have to make decisions that weigh on us. I felt horribly guilty, but at the same time, I was trying to tell myself that, if I’m not okay, if I’m not good, I cannot be the best mom to [Kaya].
‘I was going through such a hard time that I knew the most unselfish thing that I could do was to make that hard decision and just try to work on myself.
‘It wasn’t fully my decision. In fact, I didn’t know it was happening until she was already over there. In a country where her uncle is the mayor, they are icons over there. It’s a country where it’s very male dominated, so there wasn’t a heck of a lot that I could do.’
Despite being in a high-profile relationship, Wladimir has not spoken publicly about the situation concerning his daughter, and we weren’t able to get his side of the story.
Clarifying the timeline, Adrienne questioned: ‘Now I’m confused… I thought this was an agreement that you came to, that you felt it was best that your daughter be with her dad.’
‘At first it was not, because it wasn’t a discussion,’ she replied. ‘If he had come to me and said, “I think, because of where you’re at right now and your struggles that you’re having, it would be good for her to be over here with me for a while…”
Hayden and Wladimir share seven-year-old daughter Kaya together(Picture: Getty)
‘If I had probably had enough of a conversation, I would’ve said, okay that makes sense, I get it, I’ll come there to visit and stuff like that.
‘Because of the way that it was done, it was very upsetting. It was the worst, signing those papers, the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever, ever had to do in my life.’
Hayden explained that the papers gave Wladimir full custody of Kaya while she got better, and she believed that their daughter could come back to her after her recovery, but ‘that didn’t happen’.
She claimed that she wasn’t aware that Kaya would be staying with her dad full-time in a completely different country, miles away from her.
Hayden previously battled postpartum depression, and drug and alcohol addiction (Picture: WireImage)
‘I thought she was going over to visit him like she always did. She went back and forth between me in Nashville, and Ukraine. Then once she was over there, it was immediately, “I want full custody of her”. Which was a shock to me,’ she said.
‘I understand that he thinks he’s doing the right thing. He’s a fantastic father, he really is. But I don’t think he fully grasps that, as she gets older… Kids need their moms. I had never endangered her.
‘In this country, they would never take a child from me, it never would have happened. But I think that’s why she was wanted over there. When she was there, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I just tried to tell myself, “You get yourself better and in time it will change”.’
Kaya currently lives with Wladimir while Hayden is able to visit (Picture: Getty)
Hayden said that it had been ‘terrifying’ to talk about their situation publicly and that she takes ‘responsibility’ for the role she played, before praising Wladimir as an ‘amazing father’.
She has visited her ‘incredibly strong’ daughter in the time that they have been living apart, and said that they are no longer in Ukraine, due to the ongoing Russia war.
But she was left devastated when Wladimir revealed that Kaya had tried to call other women ‘mommy’ at one point.
She recalled: ‘Her dad called and he said Kaya is going around and asking other women if she call them mommy. My breath hitched and my heart stopped. He was laughing, he thought this was funny.
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‘It was horrifying to me. He didn’t get it as it was to me, who saw a trauma reaction. That’s a cry for help.
‘I haven’t got any hints that it will [change], I’ve been told I can go over and visit her anytime.
‘I just have to keep the hope that one day, when she’s old enough for her opinion to be respected a little bit more, and her wants heard, that there will be more proactivity on that side.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Wladimir’s reps for a comment.
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