Celebrity4 min(s) read
James Blunt has publicly denied being the 'very famous undressed man' that Hayden Panettiere said she was placed into bed with on a yacht when she was 18 years old.
The 52-year-old singer posted on X, sharing an article that debunks the rumor, deleted it, and then reposted it shortly afterwards.
The allegation was first made by Panettiere in a podcast interview three months before her death.
It has resurfaced in the days since she died at 36 as online users have attempted to identify the man and the woman she described.
In May, Panettiere appeared on Jay Shetty's On Purpose podcast and told the story for the first time in detail.
She described being led to a small room on a yacht at 18 by a woman she trusted.
"It was led by somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector and somebody who had my back," she said.
"She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous."
She said the man treated the situation as though nothing was unusual.
"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 ran and hid on another part of the boat for the rest of the evening because she could not get off the yacht.
"There was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation.
"I realised that this was nothing new to them."
After Panettiere's death on August 16, online sleuths began circulating two photographs.
One showed Panettiere with Blunt, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Diana Jenkins, and actor Justin Long at an event.
The other showed Panettiere and Blunt on a yacht together.
Users argued that Jenkins was the 'trusted woman' and Blunt was the 'very famous undressed man'.
There is a problem with that theory.
Both photographs were taken at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009. Panettiere was 20 at the time, not 18.
Blunt shared an article on X by former entertainment journalist Dean Piper.
The piece laid out the timeline discrepancies and argued that the dates made it impossible for the 2009 photos to be connected to an incident Panettiere described happening when she was 18.
Blunt captioned the post with an eyes emoji. He deleted it, then reposted it.
He did not issue a formal written statement, but the act of sharing the article was as good as a denial.
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Jenkins, who was widely identified online as the woman who led Panettiere under the yacht, has also denied any involvement.
Her representative told TMZ in May: "Diana has had to deal with false online rumors before, and sadly this is just another example of that.
"So let me be 100% clear about this: it most certainly is not Diana, and anyone who claims it is her will be sued."
Jenkins and Panettiere reportedly met when Panettiere was 19, a year after the alleged incident took place.
Panettiere described having a 'weird friendship' with Jenkins due to their 30-year age gap, but did not name her as the woman in the story.
She never publicly identified either the man or the woman.
Not in the podcast or in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published earlier this year - not in any interview.
The online speculation has been driven entirely by photographs and timelines pieced together by people who did not know her.
Both people publicly identified so far have denied involvement, and the dates of the evidence used to connect them do not match what Panettiere described.
She was 18 when it happened, and she was 36 when she died - the identity of the mystery man and woman may never be confirmed.
Read more of VT's coverage: Police reveal new details | 911 call audio | Health issues before death | Custody decision
