Hayden Panettiere, the actress known for Heroes and Nashville, died Sunday at age 36 in Greenville, South Carolina. Her father confirmed her death in a statement to ABC News, calling her “an incredible light and a force of nature,” and asked for privacy as the family grieves “this unimaginable loss.”
Police said officers and EMS responded to a report of an unresponsive woman around 1:50 p.m. and that Panettiere was pronounced deceased at the scene.
On Monday, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office provided Newsweek with its initial report, confirming that a 911 call came in at 1:51 p.m. for a cardiac arrest at 701 Easley Bridge Road. According to the coroner, EMS initiated advanced cardiac life support, but resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and Panettiere was pronounced deceased at 2:32 p.m.
The coroner said Panettiere had been “temporarily staying” at the residence. An autopsy was completed Monday and found no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death. The cause and manner of death remain pending further investigation and additional studies. The office said no further details are available at this time.
TMZ reported that two ambulances were dispatched to the apartment and stretchers were brought inside, though no one was transported.
The outlet also reported that Panettiere had been staying at the unit with her on‑and‑off boyfriend Brian Hickerson, who was reportedly living there with his brother Zachary, and that the pair flew from Los Angeles to South Carolina the day before her death.
Dispatch audio referenced cardiac arrest and a suspected overdose, though authorities have not released an official cause. Newsweek has reached out to Zachary Hickerson for comment.
Panettiere is survived by her daughter, Kaya, whom she shared with former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.
She released her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning in May, detailing her rise from child stardom and her struggles with postpartum depression, addiction, and an abusive relationship.
Her younger brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died in 2023 at age 28.
Panettiere’s Final Instagram Post
Panettiere shared her final post to Instagram on July 27.
In the black-and-white image, she is seen playfully winking at the camera and sticking her tongue out as photographer Randall Slavin wraps an arm around her.
“Good times and good friends @randallslavin,” she wrote in the caption.
Slavin shared the post on his Instagram story early Monday, writing: “Peace be with you, H.”
Actress Selma Blair also paid tribute to Panettiere, writing in a comment on her last Instagram post: “I love you whale tail my friend.”
And 7th Heaven actress Beverley Mitchell commented: “Praying the news is wrong! You are such a bright light and soooo loved.”
Bethany Joy Lenz from One Tree Hill wrote on Instagram on Monday, alongside pictures of Panettiere: “I dont understand how this is real. Everything seemed to be turning around. She was coming BACK to life, wasn’t she? It’s too young and there’s still so much more life. And her daughter…. Hayden, you are surround by love. I’m sorry for every moment I didn’t reach out or check in. This can’t be real.”
Viola Davis, who with her husband Julius Tennon starred alongside Panettiere in the 2016 movie Custody, wrote: “What an amazing talent you were….so gifted. Julius and I loved working with you….an old, wise soul with such a deep heart. I wish the world had more time with you because I had a burning curiosity about who you were becoming.
“I saw this beautiful Phoenix rising from the ashes. Your tests became your testimony, and your testimony became your legacy. You will be remembered. Rest well, Hayden. Sending healing prayers to your family, your daughter, and all who loved you. May they always speak your name…”
Panettiere’s Final Movie
Panettiere starred in and served as an executive producer on the psychological thriller, Sleepwalker, which premiered in January.
The film centers on Sarah Pangborn (Panettiere) who is haunted by the tragic loss of her daughter in a car crash that left her abusive husband in a coma.
Co-star Justin Chatwin told People that while filming Sleepwalker, Panettiere seemed “really lonely.”
“Hayden seemed different when I met her this time than when I met her in the early years,” Chatwin told the magazine in an August 17 interview. “I could tell she was struggling, and I was like, ‘I don’t think it’s this movie,’” he said.
Sleepwalker director Brandon Auman wrote that he was “devastated” by the horrible news in a Sunday Instagram post.
“You taught me so much on set, and the personal stories you shared with me about growing up in the industry were often profound, surreal and amazing,” Auman said.
Panettiere’s May 2026 Memoir and What It Explored
Panettiere’s memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, is described on her publisher’s website as a “remarkably candid” memoir in which Panettiere “reclaims her story.”
In the memoir, Panettiere recalls growing up as a child star and navigating the acting industry into adulthood, the pressures of fame and scrutiny from tabloids.
The book also sees her open up about postpartum depression, addiction and recovery, domestic abuse, family trauma and loss. “She holds nothing back as she reflects on the moments she calls ‘lifequakes’—experiences that fractured her sense of self and forced her to rebuild it from the inside out,” the description on her publisher’s website says.
What Hayden Panettiere Has Said About Alcoholism and Addiction
Panettiere has been candid in interviews and in her memoir about her struggles with alcohol and opioid addiction.
She spoke about it for the first time in an interview with People magazine in 2022, saying: “I was on top of the world, and I ruined it.”
She said that she was 15 when she was first given “happy pills” by a member of her team and said she did not realize at the time that it could become a gateway to addiction.
She said that she continued drinking and occasionally using opioids as her career thrived.
“My saving grace is that I couldn’t be messy while on set and working,” she said. “But things kept getting out of control [off set]. And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”
In one of her final interviews for the July cover of Momé, a parenting magazine, she said that she had grown increasingly dependent on alcohol while battling postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter.
She entered rehab in 2015, while filming Nashville. “I was the one who put myself in the first treatment center. I was drowning,” she said in a 2023 interview with Women’s Health magazine.
“I’m a work in progress—we all are. I take each day as it comes. I’m doing the work, and I’m doing my best,” she said.
Death of Her Brother Jansen Panettiere
Panettiere’s younger brother Jansen Panettiere, an actor and artist, died at the age of 28 in February 2023. His family later confirmed that he had died from an enlarged heart and aortic valve complications.
She has spoken about the profound impact that losing her only sibling had on her, telling People in 2024 that she felt as if she had “lost half of my soul” and would never be able to get over his death.
In the interview, she said that her body reacted to the stress of losing her brother.
“I just ballooned out,” she said. “It didn’t matter what I did, what I ate. I know stress and cortisol running through your body can do that.”
She said she also suffered from agoraphobia and was barely able to leave the house in the months after his death.
“I had to see horrific paparazzi pictures of myself coming out of Jansen’s funeral, which happened in a very private place, and it was shocking,” she said. “I didn’t recognize myself. My agoraphobia came out, which is something I’ve struggled with in the past.”
Her Relationship With Wladimir Klitschko
Panettiere and former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko met at a party in 2008 and began dating the following year.
The couple confirmed their engagement in 2013 and welcomed their daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, in December 2014. They confirmed their split in 2018 but remained on good terms.
In an interview with podcaster Jay Shetty after her memoir came out in May, Panettiere talked about the custody arrangement for her 11-year-old daughter, who lives full-time with Klitschko in Ukraine. News of the 2018 decision had prompted headlines about Panettiere giving up custody of her daughter.
“I think there’s been this very common misconception that I just gave up my child,” she said. “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” while “just trying to find my way back, my way out of the darkness.”
Panettiere said earlier this year that she had remained close to her former fiance as they co-parented their daughter.
“I’m so grateful for Wlad. We’re very close, and have had a deep friendship, along with a relationship, since I met him when I was 19,” she told US Weekly in May.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly, Yannick Demoustier and Alex Backus.
