This week, Heroes star Hayden Panettiere left the ivory tower as a media darling. It started out with an outing for a charity in Hawaii, in which Hayden was allegedly (or not so allegedly, since multiple sources confirm it) very unpleasant to the media on the red carpet. Apparently, the cause of some of Hayden’s angst was her fear that people would ask her awkward questions about her split with Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia.

The next scandal was a report coming out of OK! Magazine. OK! claimed that Hayden was trying to force Milo off Heroes because it was so awkward between them on set. Even though I think overall her behavior has been rather rude, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. After all, she is only 19 years old, and everyone has a bad week.

Now Hayden is trying to do some damage control. She gave an “exclusive” interview to OK!, and the quotes are actually pretty good. The girl either has a really great publicist, or she has naturally good instincts about the right thing to say:

The headlines in the past few weeks have been a bit rough toward Hayden Panettiere with one magazine accusing the Heroes star of lashing out at a reporter during an event in Hawaii and with sources telling OK! of on-set tension between her and former boyfriend Milo Ventimiglia.

However, when OK! had the chance to get Hayden’s side of both stories, we jumped at the chance.

“Milo and I are very close,” the 19-year-old beauty explains to OK!. “We have enjoyed and continue to enjoy working together.”

OK! also heard from Heroes honcho Tim Kring, who said that his stars’ relationship status has nothing to do with how he and his staff plot the NBC hit. “The final decision about which characters live and die on Heroes rests with me,” he tells OK!. “I’ve made no announcement yet as to who will return and who won’t.”

As for the alleged outburst against a tabloid reporter in Hawaii, Hayden says it’s all been blown out of proportion.

“I have tremendous respect for the media and reporters – particularly the press who treat the people they are interviewing with dignity,” she says. “I am appreciative that the press has supported me, my career, and especially the causes I feel passionately about. While in Hawaii, one reporter grabbed me suddenly from behind and frightened me. It happens. Typically, the press has treated me with great respect.”

From OK! Magazine

Alright, I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt about the Hawaiian incident. Hayden is a very small (and very young) girl, and I can totally see how being grabbed would freak out any woman, especially a petite girl who would have felt physically threatened. All in all, I think Hayden just had a bad week.

Hayden Panettierei s shown at a Super Bowl party on 1/31/09. Credit: PRphotos

Forbes has released its list of Hollywood’s Most Valuable Young Stars. The list came out as part of Forbes’ recent Star Currency Survey, which evaluated star power of 1,400 actors in Hollywood. The choices, meant to give a cross-section of Hollywood, was sent to 157 people working in all parts of the movie industry, who evaluated actors based on certain factors.

Criteria used were:
-The amount of financing that flows to a project is significantly determined by the individual actor’s presence in a film.
-The individual actor’s presence in a film guarantees theatrical distribution.
-The individual actor’s presence significantly drives the film’s theatrical box-office performance.
-If the individual actor’s involvement is essential in securing rights deals for revenue streams, including DVD, pay/free TV, video-on-demand and online/downloading/streaming (when applicable), as well as a project’s ultimate financial performance in those areas.
-If the individual actor can attract audiences in any film genre.
-If the individual actor can attract other top-line talent based on his or her involvement in a film.
-If the individual actor is popular among most demographic groups.
-Whether media exposure the individual actor receives (positive or negative) enhances his or her ability to attract financing and audiences to a project.

[from Forbes]

The survey participants then ranked each actor based on these questions. The young Hollywood list was extracted from this survey and had the criteria that the actor be 19 or younger on February 10, 2009. Most of the young thespians on the list are actors who have potential staying power: Abigail Breslin, Daniel Radcliffe, and Dakota Fanning, for example. Miley Cyrus also makes the list not necessarily because of her potential for an adult career, but because she has yet to go wrong with her project choices, and continues to bring in the dough. Here’s the list:

1. Daniel Radcliffe (age 19)
2. Miley Cyrus (age 16)
3. Dakota Fanning (age 15)
4. Abigail Breslin (age 12)
5. Hayden Panettiere (age 19)
6. Emma Watson (age 18)
7. Freddie Highmore (age 17)
8. Keke Palmer (age 15)
9. Emma Roberts (age 18)
10. Anton Yelchin (age 19)

Most of these are not surprising, except for Anton Yelchin, who has been doing projects for a while but hasn’t made a celebrity name for himself yet. He’ll be starring in Terminator and Star Trek this summer. The article about the young Hollywood list makes a good point that’s worth quoting: “In the past, someone like a Shirley Temple was limited,” says [producer Rick] Alvarez. “She was playing herself, and she was the cute little girl with the patent-leather shoes and the curly hair. How do you go from that to playing Cleopatra or Mary, Queen of Scots?” I can see Abigail Breslin, Dakota Fanning, and Freddie Highmore going on to do just that – if they decide to keep going. Fanning, for one, was recently in the movie Hounddog, which included a rape scene that was too graphic for many audiences. Can you imagine Shirley Temple doing something like that? As for the rest of the actors on the list, it will be interesting to see how many of these names we see in Forbes’ Most Valuable Hollywood Stars in a few years. I’ll bet that Miley’s name will be nowhere near it.

So I really don’t understand what the big deal is with Hayden Panettiere. She’s been billed as the new hot girl, and I just don’t see it. Thankfully, her career post-”Heroes” seems pretty bleak, and she’s not winning over any friends in the media with her recent Hawaiian childish temper tantrum.

Maybe I just feel so strongly against Hayden because she was publicly linked to my boyfriend, Gerard Butler, amongst other alleged conquests after her split with “Heroes” co-star Milo Ventimiglia. Now it seems that Hayden is so worked over the split that she’s attempting to get Milo fired. Ouch. OK! has more:

Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere has decided to take her bitter breakup with co-star Milo Ventimiglia to the small screen. Hayden, 19, is trying to get Milo, 31, kicked off of the show, according to a mutual friend.

“She refuses to be on the set at the same time as him,” the pal tells OK!. “She is making it difficult for everyone involved.” (Her rep denies this).

As for Milo, “He’s not going to play any games or stoop to her level,” says the friend.

Since the split, Hayden has been linked to a string of men including rocker Anthony Kiedis, 46, her ex Stephen Colletti, 23, and Gerard Butler, 39.

From OK! Magazine

It seems pretty thin, but perhaps there’s something there. I would have given her the benefit of the doubt, but Hayden seems to be in a bad place as of late. And she’s pretty young, and this is just the kind of “payback” that a teenage girl would attempt. Like, “Oh my God, I can’t even see him any more, I’m gonna try to get him fired!” She probably didn’t even think it through.

Hayden Panettiere is shown on the set of Heroes on 3/10/09 and with co-star Adrian Pasdar on set in Venice Beach CA on 1/28/09. Credit: Fame Pictures

I disliked Hayden Panettiere for a long time. I had absolutely no specific reason for it, it was just a gut feeling. Then she did a lot of cool and dangerous things for dolphins, and I decided to force myself to like her. I’m not going to kid you, the process wasn’t easy, but I was committed to it. And I think I got 75% there before Hayden blew it. And by “blew it,” I mean acted like a total bitch and freaked out on reporters.

Hayden Panettiere lost her cool at an event in Hawaii over the weekend.

The 19-year-old Heroes star — who recently split with Milo Ventimiglia because of her club-going ways — was testy when she first stepped on the red carpet at a fundraiser benefiting the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific Foundation Sunday in Honolulu.

“Back up!” she yelled at photographers.

After posing for photos, she brushed by reporters. A female television reporter touched her shoulder and asked, “May we talk with you, Hayden?” Miffed, the actress jerked her head around and screamed, “Don’t you ever touch me!” She then icily asked a red carpet handler, “Oh, am I supposed to do interviews?”

Approaching various media outlets, she snapped again: “You all make my life miserable” and refused to answer any questions.

After the red carpet, Panettiere hung out in a private cabana with Justin Long and his brother. She then moved to a private dining room, where she and Long sat across from one another, chatting for more than an hour.

[From Us Weekly]

Us Weekly titled this story, “Hayden Panettiere Shoves TV Reporter,” yet they never actually mentioned any shoving. So either they drastically exaggerated the headline or they completely forgot the most important – and dramatic – part of the story. Nonetheless, Hayden was clearly acting like a complete bitch. But I have to be fair – I certainly behaved like a spoiled snot on occasion at her age. I just didn’t have anyone reporting on it. So I’m not going to completely write her off as a totally flawed human being, because she might be better at dealing with frustration in a few years.

Though she has been linked to a lot of older men, so you’d think Hayden would have a bit of maturity by now.

Here’s Hayden at LAX today with “Days of Our Lives” star Darin Brooks, returning from Hawaii. She clearly is having a real problem with the paparazzi. Images thanks to Pacific Coast News.

19 year-old Hayden Panettiere is really playing the field since she broke it off with her co-star Milo Ventimiglia. She was linked with Jesse McCartney, who seemed entirely her speed, but is also said to have been spotted on the lap of boxing great Wladimir Klitschko, 32, the current IBF and WBO heavyweight champion.

Just days after splitting from her Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere has found a new hero. On February 19, she was spotted with heavyweight boxer Wladmimir Klitschko at Guy’s in LA. “She was sitting on his lap and flirting with him all night,” an onlooker tells In Touch. “It seemed as if they had known each other for a while.”

[From In Touch, print edition, March 9, 2009]

I live in Germany and am married to a German guy who occasionally watches boxing and I have to admit I’ll watch with interest if either of the Kitschko brothers are competing. Wladimir and his older brother Vitali Kitschko both hold separate world heavyweight boxing titles and are pretty much national heroes and huge celebrities here in Germany. They were born in Kazakhstan) Russia but moved to Germany in their late teens and the press and people here love them.

The brothers have vowed never to fight each other, after a promise they made to their mom. Both of these guys have PhDs, Wladimir has a doctorate in sports science from Kiev University and Vitali, the WBC heavyweight champion, has a PhD in sports medicine and philosphy. I think older brother Vitali is the hotter one, but he’s been married since 1996 and is off the market.

Hayden Panettiere is not even close to being in Wladimir Klitschko’s league in my opinion. He needs to throw that small fry back and get a real woman. She seems ok for a young starlet, but she’s too young for him.

Hayden Panettiere is shown at a Declare Yourself event on 1/18/09. Credit: WENN. Wladimir Klitschko is shown on 9/10/08. Credit: WENN

The age difference between Heroes co-stars Hayden Panettiere, 19, and Milo Ventimiglia, 31, has caught up with them. Hayden was reportedly seen kissing Jessie McCartney earlier this month, and it now seems the couple have split. This could make things awkward on the set of their TV show.

Heroes costars Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia have called it quits, Usmagazine.com has learned.

“It was a lifestyle conflict,” a source close to the couple tells Us, adding that the split happened within the last week. “They were in very different places.”

Adds the insider, “They are still on friendly terms. There are no hard feelings.”

The source tells Us that Panettiere, 19, “is young. She likes to go out in the Hollywood scene and that’s not his style.”

Ventimiglia, 31, “has been concentrating on work on his production company [Divide Pictures],” the source adds.

US Magazine

‘Different places’ is usually a line in break up talk, but this time I believe it. There’s no way a 31 year old man could be in the same mental place as a teenager.

There has been a consistent rumor that Milo wants to marry Hayden (they have been dating for a year, that’s practically a lifetime in Hollywood) but that she says she isn’t ready. Hayden presents herself as a mature, classy young actress, and hasn’t been pictured stumbling drunkenly out of clubs. Her image didn’t sustain any kind of damage even during her parents domestic altercation.

Milo in the past has dated Alexia Bledel, he played her romantic interest on Gilmore Girls, then left the show and they broke up at the same time, after 3 years of dating. The last outing I can find of Milo and Hayden is in early December where they were pictured together on the Heroes set.

Milo and Hayden are shown at Comicon on 7/26/08. Credit: PRPhotos

The relationship between Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia must be on the fritz. Either that or they’ve quietly broken up, because Hayden was spotted making out with singer/actor Jesse McCartney in a big way.

We’re seven hours late for work today because we partied at Crown Bar until we passed out – no, not from drinking, from shock. It happened right after we saw 19-year-old Hayden Panettierre ALL OVER Jesse McCartney.

And when we say ALL OVER, that’s exactly what we mean. She was holding him tighter than Michael Phelps gripping that bong. The Heroes star was sitting on Jesse’s lap while he kissed her neck. Then she got up and did some crazy sexy dance in his lap.

So, it looks like goodbye Milo!

It must be over between Hayden and her long-time squeeze Milo Ventimigla, 31, because after her inside PDA with Jesse, 21, they went outside to smoke and he wrapped his arms around her from behind and was kissing her neck again. (It started to look like an episode of True Blood; dude has some sort of next fixation for sure.)

In the middle of this, a girl approached Hayden to ask for her autograph on the back of a store receipt. Hayden was nice enough to oblige.

Girl, don’t even try to talk your way out of this with Milo. That is, of course, if he’s still in the picture. We saw it with our own bloodshot eyes.

[From Radar]

While I like Milo Ventimiglia, he’s 31, and Hayden’s only 19. Jesse McCartney is 21, so he’s definitely more age-appropriate for her. There’s also been a lot of talk that Milo wanted to get engaged to Hayden. Which makes perfect sense for someone his age, but not for someone who’s 19.

I really hope they had already broken up, otherwise hearing that your girlfriend is exchanging saliva with some C-list singer has got to be an extra big jolt. Even though their age difference is fairly significant – at least for this point in their lives – Hayden and Milo always struck me as cute together, and they didn’t exploit their relationship for publicity. Maybe this one just a one-night mistake.

Here’s Hayden at the Declare Yourself ‘A New Birth of Citizenship’ Inauguration kick-off event in Washington DC on January 18th. Images thanks to WENN.

I have to admit, I really didn’t like Hayden Panettiere when I first started hearing her name all the time. But now that she’s passed the 18-year-old mark and still hasn’t gone all Lindsay Lohan like everyone thought, she’s growing on me. Especially since she’s done some pretty gutsy things that other celebs just talk about – like going to Japan and actually paddling out on a surfboard to try to prevent fisherman from killing dolphins. And she didn’t back down after the fact, even when the Japanese issued an arrest warrant against her. While Hayden is very pro-animal, she seems to be into doing good deeds in general. This past weekend she took five sick girls from Children’s Hospital shopping.

Not only does young award-winning Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere spend her light up the small screen on the popular NBC TV show, but she also helps bring smiles to the faces of girls who are in need of a little holiday cheer.

On Dec. 13 the 20-year-old real life hero spent her Saturday morning with five girls who are currently patients at the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles on a Candies shopping spree at Kohl’s in San Gabriel, Calif. The girls were recovering from aneurisms, strokes, paralysis [sic] of the nerves and spine and battling sickle cell anemia. The admirable group was awarded $500 to put together a brand new head-to-toe look just in time for the holiday season.

The stylish star tells OK! that while she did suggest pieces to the girls while shopping, they didn’t seem to need much help!

“Not many of them listened to me!” she admits to OK!.

[From OK! Magazine]

Hayden is a Candies spokesperson, so this was likely part of her promotion for the brand. It was still a great way to do something nice, and I bet all five of the girls were really excited to meet her. So many celebrities go out of their way to avoid interacting with people or (gasp!) fans. And I understand the desire for privacy, but it’s nice to see a celebrity who’s willing to spend time with her fans, for whatever reason.

Hayden Panettiere skyrocketed to fame as the center of the TV show Heroes’ enigmatic tagline “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” Her long blonde hair and blue eyes personified the perfect American girl-next-door – except her character Claire can’t be injured.

Some TV stars have contracts that forbid them from cutting their hair (think David Krumholtz of Numb3rs). Hayden apparently doesn’t have such a contract. Earlier this year, she showed off a new short haircut that accentuates her perfect cheekbones, but is also costing the producers of Heroes a lot of money, according to In Touch.

The 19-year-old debuted a cropped bob back in June, but it clashed with what’s happening on-screen. “They need her to have long hair for her character,” an insider on the set tells In Touch, adding that for continuity, the show has had to dish out lots of cash for hairpieces. “They’re made of real hair so they’re costing at least $6,000 for every fitting.”

[From In Touch, print edition, December 1, 2008]

Heroes’ debut season was phenomenal, but since then the show has been losing viewers due to the addition of too many characters and convoluted plotlines. Two of the show’s producers were recently fired due to “creative differences.”

On the personal front, Hayden and costar Milo Ventimiglia are moving in together, according to Star.

Hayden recently plunked down $2.6 million for a three-bedroom, three-bath house high in the Hollywood Hills and has asked her 12-year-older Heroes costar Milo to be her roomie! “She’s very much in love with him and wants him around all the time,” says an insider. “This way, they can even carpool to the set together.” Even Hayden’s mom, Lesley, has come around to the idea. “She lives down the street from Hayden, so she can keep an eye on her,” adds the insider. “Hayden’s a good kid. She’s not going to do anything wild.”

[From Star, print edition, December 1, 2008]

Hayden seems to be the rare teen star who isn’t always in the tabloids for drugs, partying and dating a new guy every other week. Maybe that maturity will help “Halo” stay a couple, despite the age difference. But I’m cynical, especially when Heroes goes off the air and she remains the more famous of the two. Hollywood is notoriously hard on star couples, even ones angelically nicknamed “Halo.”

Hayden Panettiere is shown premiering her new clutch bag for Dooney & Burke at the Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas on 11/22/08. Credit: WENN

Jeremy Piven, 43, won an Emmy for his some-say typecast performance as douchebag agent Ari Gold on Entourage. He wasn’t as lucky after the awards ceremony when he tried to put the moves on actress Hayden Panettiere, 19, at a party. She wasn’t having his feeble attempts and got out of there as soon as possible:

Jeremy chatted up Heroes hottie Hayden Panettiere – who, at 19, is 24 years younger than Jeremy. “He was trying to be charming and kept saying he ‘wanted to show her around town,’” says a partygoer. “But Hayden soon excused herself and escaped.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 6, 2008]

It’s possible that Star doesn’t have their information right or that Piven was just trying to be friendly in his skeevy way. Given his reputation though, that’s unlikely. Just about everyone knows that Hayden is in a serious relationship with her co-star Milo Ventimiglia, but that didn’t stop Jeremy.

Piven also played the drums at the HBO post-Emmys party, probably in an attempt to look nonchalant after he got dissed by Panettiere.

Here’s Piven at the party telling his celebrity friends that he’s going to do a stint on Broadway. He’ll be in a revival of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow which starts performances October 3. (NSFW language.) Piven will appear in RockNRolla, which is out in limited release next month, and has three films in the works for next year.

Jeremy Piven is shown at the Emmy Awards on 9/21/08. Hayden Panettiere is shown at a Declare Yourself event on 9/24/08. Credit: PRPhotos.