Hayden Panettiere dies at age 36

Hayden Panettiere has died at age 36, her representative and father confirmed. The actress, known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, passed away in South Carolina, where local police have launched an active investigation into the circumstances of her death.

The sudden loss comes after Panettiere flew from Los Angeles to the south on the day before her death. According to reporting by The Standard, she traveled with her on-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. Police in South Carolina stated that they responded to an incident involving Panettiere and that an investigation remains open.

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"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen,”

Skip Panettiere, father of Hayden Panettiere, via ABC News

The tragedy follows a period of intense public reflection for Panettiere. On May 19, she released a memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which detailed the pressures of child stardom and her journeys through addiction and recovery. In the book, Panettiere described being placed in bed next to a very famous naked man by a trusted friend on a yacht and recounted an instance where an Oscar-winning actor allegedly exposed himself to her at a party.

Her career spanned three decades, beginning at age four on the soap opera One Life to Live. She gained early recognition as the voice of Dot in the 1998 film A Bug’s Life—which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for Children—and appeared in the 2000 drama Remember the Titans. She achieved global fame as the superpower-endowed cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes (2006–2010) and later earned two Golden Globe nominations for her role as country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville.

Panettiere’s recent years were marked by profound personal loss and health struggles. In 2023, her younger brother and fellow actor, Jansen Panettiere, died at age 28 due to an enlarged heart and aortic valve complications. Panettiere later told People that losing her only sibling felt like losing half of my soul, a grief that led her to develop agoraphobia.

The actress also spoke candidly about the heartbreak of granting full custody of her daughter, Kaya, to her former partner, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, in 2018. Panettiere explained that this decision was made while she struggled with addiction to alcohol and pills, as well as postpartum depression and anxiety.

"I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and the postpartum and having to act my way through it and just feeling like I completely lost myself.”

Hayden Panettiere, via Jay Shetty

Industry peers and co-stars have responded with grief. Melissa Barrera, who starred alongside Panettiere in Scream VI, posted Rest in peace sweet Hayden on Instagram. Selma Blair, a fellow former child actor, wrote, I love you. Don’t be gone. Don’t be gone. Please. Please. The actors' union SAG-AFTRA, of which Panettiere had been a member since 1994, issued a statement mourning her sudden passing.

The actress's final screen appearance was in the January release Sleepwalker, where she played a grieving mother. Her final social media activity was a photograph shared in July with director Randall Slavin, captioned Good times and good friends.

Her relationship with Brian Hickerson was noted for its volatility; the pair began dating in 2018, and Hickerson was arrested for domestic violence in 2020 following a physical altercation with the actress. He served a one-month sentence of a 45-day term, and the two reconnected in 2021.

South Carolina police have not yet released the cause of death or specific details regarding the incident that prompted their response. The investigation remains ongoing.

Career milestones and industry honors

While global recognition came with Heroes, Panettiere's professional trajectory included a variety of genres, from the romantic comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper to the TV movie Amanda Knox. Her work in Nashville extended beyond acting; her singing for the series resulted in 11 entries on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, according to OK! Magazine.

The actress maintained strong ties with her collaborators. In 2023, she defended co-star Melissa Barrera after Barrera was removed from Scream 7, a move Panettiere called very unfair and upsetting, according to The Standard. This professional kinship was mirrored in the tributes following her death, including a post from David Arquette, who had attended a horror convention with the actress in February.

Family fractures and personal losses

The chronology of Panettiere's personal struggles was marked by deep instability. She revealed an estrangement from her mother, who had managed her childhood career and later criticized the contents of Panettiere's memoir, as reported by Channel News Asia. This tension existed alongside the grief of her brother Jansen's death in 2023, a loss she described in February 2025 as pain that isn't quantifiable.

Her relationship with Wladimir Klitschko also involved significant conflict. While Panettiere had initially believed her daughter, Kaya, was visiting Ukraine, she told Red Table Talk that it was a shock when Klitschko immediately requested full custody. She eventually signed the papers, describing it as the most heartbreaking act of her life.

As South Carolina police maintain their open investigation, the next step remains the official release of the cause of death.