Fans found her “hard to watch.” Hayden Panettiere’s slurred speech and sleepy demeanor during an interview posted online on September 18 sparked so much concern that the actress, 35, felt “forced” to set the record straight in a lengthy Instagram post. “I hadn’t slept in two days,” she explained, because her dog was sick. “Whether or not I am on medication is none of anyone’s business.”
But a September 23 Today appearance raised more alarm for the actress, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction. “She’s really struggling as she processes her grief” over the sudden death of her brother, Jansen, to a heart issue last year, a source exclusively tells In Touch, “and this doesn’t help. Friends question whether she should have come back to work so soon.”
