Hayden's Dad Breaks Silence!

(Celebrityphoto.com)

A day after he threw his family into the scandal spotlight after being arrested for allegedly striking his wife during an argument, Hayden Panettiere's father, Alan "Skip" Panettiere and her mother Lesley are finally talking.

“It was all a big misunderstanding,” the parents of the Heroes star tell TV's Extra, claiming that “nothing actually happened... Lesley wasn’t even aware that Skip had been arrested.”

Extra's Mario Lopez also reports that Hayden, who lives near her parents in her own home, was not in their house during the arrest in the early hours of Monday morning and didn't find out found out about the incident until her father called her from jail.

According to the report, Mr. and Mrs. Panettiere “love each other very much and want everyone to know that the matter was completely blown out of proportion.”

Yesterday, a representative from the West Hollywood Sheriff's Dept. told OK! that Lesley had been "struck three times," but declined both medical assistance and the offer of an emergency protection order against her husband. Alan was released last night on $50,000 bail.