Hayden Panettiere talked about the impact a difficult custody dispute is having on her 7-year-old daughter Kaya Klitschko on Wednesday’s edition of “Red Table Talk.”
Kaya presently resides in Europe with her father, Wladimir Klitschko, who was once married to Panettiere. The “Heroes” actor said to hosts Jada Pinkett Smith and Adrienne Banfield Norris and their guest co-host Kelly Osbourne that she has been there since Klitschko filed for full custody in Ukraine in the midst of Panettiere’s efforts to treat her alcoholism in 2018.
Kaya is being alarmingly impacted by Panettiere’s absence, despite Panettiere claiming to visit her kid whenever she can.
At roughly the 27-minute mark of the episode, she remarked, “I also recall her dad contacting me and he said, ‘Kaya’s going around and asking other ladies if she can call them mama.'” “My heart stopped, and I had trouble breathing. He started giggling because he found this to be amusing.”
The “Nashville” actress said it was “horrifying” for her to receive this knowledge. She claimed that she didn’t believe Klitschko saw Kaya’s actions the same way she did. She said, “That’s a trauma reaction, that’s… that’s a scream for help.”
Panettiere claimed that when she urged Kaya to speak to her “immediately” about the matter, Kaya regressed and began “talking gibberish,” which was something Panettiere had never observed before.
The actor claimed that she has attempted to convince Klitschko that she has to be more involved in Kaya’s life since Kaya’s lack of frequent contact with her mother is a “trauma” that will “raise its ugly head” when she is older. Panettiere, however, asserted that she does not feel that Klitschko is aware of or accepts the idea, and she is concerned that Kaya may someday go through “rage” or “depression” as a result of her absence.
Kaya’s living circumstances hasn’t changed recently, according to Panettiere, but she has “hope” that as Kaya gets older, her wishes will be “respected” more and she’ll be able to travel to see her mother in the US.
Earlier in the conversation, Panettiere said that she had not fully opened up about her custody situation because it’s been “very terrifying to talk about” since Klitschko and his family are so prominent in Ukraine. He was a former professional boxer for Ukraine, and his brother, Vitali Klitschko, currently serves as mayor of Kyiv.
While speaking with the “Red Table Talk” hosts, Panettiere also added that Klitschko occasionally misunderstands the bodily repercussions that emotions can have because he is a European athlete without many female influences.
When Kaya was a baby and she experienced postpartum depression, she claimed that Klitschko “truly thought I was doing it on myself.”
She said, “If you manage your thoughts, you can control everything. That’s how he signed his emails.
Panettiere originally opened up to People writer Aili Nahas in July about her history with drinking, opiate addiction, and postpartum depression, which began when she was a little child.
On “Red Table Talk,” she said that she signed over “full custody” of Kaya to Klitschko in 2018 after her daughter went to Ukraine for what Panettiere initially thought would be a regular visit while she sought treatment for addiction. She acknowledged that signing away custody was not “totally” her “choice,” though.
She declared, “I was going to go work on myself and I was going to become well.” “And then, as soon as she got there, it was, ‘I want complete custody of her,’ which surprised me.
