James Blunt addresses Hayden Panettiere rumours following her tragic death at age 36

British singer James Blunt has addressed the rumours surrounding him and late actress Hayden Panettiere.

Following the tragic passing of the Heroes star, fans began dissecting her memoir, shining light on a particular chapter where Panettiere wrote about a disturbing encounter with a man on a boat.

In This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere claimed she was led into a small cabin on a yacht by a trusted older female friend at age 18.

She wrote about being physically placed into a bed next to an undressed, “very famous” British singer-songwriter in his thirties.

After her death at the age of 36, online sleuths began digging up old 2009 photographs of Panettiere and Blunt together in Cannes, claiming the British singer was the anonymous man in the story.

Social media comments quickly flooded Blunt’s accounts with wild accusations.

On Thursday, Blunt broke his silence by sharing an article on X written by journalist Dean Piper, which defends the singer and labels the online speculation an “internet lynching“.

Piper explained why Blunt couldn’t be the man Panettiere spoke about in her book and began by referencing an article he wrote about the pair in 2009.

“I wrote an article about Hayden Panettiere and James Blunt at the amfAR charity event in Cannes,” Piper wrote on SubStack.

“They’d arrived together, had been flirty throughout and had gone to the afterparty together. They were photographed on a boat the next day, smiling and having fun.

“Since the sad death of Hayden, I’ve been contacted by a host of ‘internet sleuths’ asking for more details, for their ongoing ‘investigation’.”

“Hayden doesn’t name the man and doesn’t say if he was in on the whole thing, but simply told him, ‘this is not going to happen’,” Piper added.

“Whereupon she fled the room, packed her bags and left the boat for the safety of a hotel.”

Blunt has been bombarded with thousands of comments on social media, claiming he was the man in the yacht cabin.