Hayden Panettiere, the star of popular TV series including Heroes and Nashville, has died at age 36.
Panettiere’s father, Skip, announced the actor’s death in a statement provided to ABC News on Sunday. “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,” his statement said.
The cause of death has not yet been announced. Her publicist, Kasey Kitchen, told NBC News, “There’s an investigation ongoing. We should know more tomorrow.”
Police in Greenville, S.C., said in a statement that officers “accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female” at about 1:50 p.m. on Sunday.
The statement added, “Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
“The case is under investigation by the Greenville Police Department in conjunction with the Greenville County Coroner’s Office. The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances. An acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call.”
According to dispatch audio obtained by People, officials were heard discussing an “overdose” and “cardiac arrest” around the time of her death. “I don’t have any more information at this time, but it’s looking as though that is the case,” a representative for Panettiere told the website.
Her acting career
Panettiere, who would have turned 37 on Friday, began her career as a child actor in commercials and soap operas. She gained recognition voicing Dot, the young princess ant in Pixar’s 1998 animated hit, A Bug’s Life. Her work on the film’s read-along album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.
She was propelled to fame with her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes, which premiered on NBC in 2006. She later played an up-and-coming country singer on Nashville. She did her own singing in the show, which scored some hits on country charts and earned Panettiere two Golden Globe nominations.
The actor also appeared in two of the Scream movies, starred as the title character in the 2009 film I Love You Beth Cooper and played the young daughter of a football coach in Remember the Titans. Panettiere’s most recent movie was the psychological thriller Sleepwalker. Her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, was released in May.
Her personal struggles and recovery
She had been open about her struggles with alcohol and depression, including after the birth of her daughter, Kaya, with boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. Kaya, who is 11, lives with Klitschko in Ukraine, Panettiere said this year. She told podcaster Jay Shetty, “I think there’s been this very common misconception that I just gave up my child. That could not be farther from the truth.”
Panettiere said Klitschko suggested their daughter live with him full-time when the child was 2, as Panettiere struggled with mental health challenges and addiction. She said she was in a “horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse.”
She added, “I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity. I’ve closed one door, and another door is opened. I can feel all the exciting possibilities. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”
Panettiere entered rehab in 2015 while filming Nashville. “I was the one who put myself in the first treatment center. I was drowning,” she told Women’s Health magazine in 2023, and described having issues with alcohol and opioids alongside postpartum depression. She went back to treatment in 2021. “I did a lot of work on myself,” she said. “After eight months of intensive therapy, I felt like I had this blank canvas to work with.”
Panettiere’s younger brother, Jansen, who was also an actor, died of a heart condition in 2023 at age 28. She spoke openly about her grief, saying in an interview with People two years after his death, “I will always be heartbroken about it. I will never be able to get over it. No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss.”
Panettiere began dating actor Brian Hickerson in 2018. Their relationship later became the focus of a domestic violence case. Hickerson pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring Panettiere and was sentenced to 45 days in jail.
Panettiere addressed the allegations publicly in 2020, saying she hoped sharing her experience would “empower others in abusive relationships to get the help they need and deserve.”
She also said she was “prepared to do my part to make sure this man never hurts anyone again.”
Speaking to Yahoo in May, Panettiere described the “terror” she felt due to paparazzi attention in the 2000s. “It was like looking down the barrel of a gun,” she said. “All these grown men. They would box you in and run red lights, and then it would turn into a mob scene. And they never put into the press what the paparazzi were saying to get a reaction.”
She said she had become “confident enough to protect myself,” explaining: “I’ve been so lucky to have friends who have stuck with me… My friends remind me that I am naturally a brave lioness, and I’m going to make it through.”
Tributes from friends and costars
Actor Emme Rylan, who appeared with Panettiere in the 2006 comedy Bring It On: All or Nothing, reacted to news of her death on Instagram, writing, “So very sad. Rest in peace sweet soul.”
Viola Davis, who appeared alongside Panettiere in the 2016 courtroom drama Custody, wrote on Instagram, “What an amazing talent you were….so gifted.” She added, “You will be remembered. Rest well. Sending healing prayers to your family, your daughter, and all who loved you. May they always speak your name…”
One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz, a longtime friend of Panettiere, said she was “crushed” by her death. “Everything seemed to be turning around. She was coming BACK to life, wasn’t she?” she wrote, adding, “I’m sorry for every moment I didn’t reach out or check in. This can’t be real.”
Panettiere’s Scream 4 costar David Arquette wrote, “I love you Hayden.”
Legally Blonde actor Selma Blair wrote, “I love you. Don’t be gone. Please.”
