Hayden Panettiere, the child actress turned television star, died on Sunday after cardiac arrest.
Her death, at 36, came months after she released a tell-all memoir reflecting on her unusual childhood guided by her “momager,” the traumas she experienced throughout her life and how she overcame them.
Here is what we know about the actress’s death.
What caused Ms. Panettiere’s death?
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said in a statement that emergency responders found a woman in cardiac arrest on Sunday afternoon at an apartment complex in Greenville, S.C. The woman was later identified as Ms. Panettiere.
The cardiac arrest was caused by an apparent drug overdose, a person with knowledge of the situation told The New York Times, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. On an audio recording of the Greenville County Fire and Emergency Management’s online feed that roughly matches the time and location of Ms. Panettiere’s death, someone reports an “overdose” and says that “CPR is in progress.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration, a federal agency that enforces the nation’s laws regulating controlled substances, joined the investigation into Ms. Panettiere’s death, a person familiar with the investigation said on Wednesday.
According to a heavily redacted report released by the Greenville Police Department, emergency workers “attempted to perform lifesaving methods for an extended amount of time” before declaring Panettiere dead around 2:30 p.m.
During an autopsy, “no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death,” said the coroner’s office, which said the cause of death was pending. The police said a preliminary investigation did not yield evidence of “foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
What is Ms. Panettiere known for?
Ms. Panettiere has an extensive résumé, beginning with commercials and childhood roles in soap operas. But she was perhaps best known for her starring role as the supernaturally gifted cheerleader Claire Bennet in the NBC series “Heroes.”
Landing that part was thrilling, she said in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” but it also propelled her to a level of fame that came with consequences. Even though she was only a teenager, she was constantly chased down by paparazzi and body-shamed in the tabloids. One particularly brutal comment led to a yearslong battle with body dysmorphia.
More recently, Ms. Panettiere has received widespread acclaim for her role in “Nashville,” an ABC and CMT drama about country music singers in the Tennessee capital. She was twice nominated for Golden Globes.
Filming that show, she said, was “traumatizing” because its writers used her real-life struggles, including with postpartum depression and substance abuse, in story lines for her character, Juliette Barnes. She did not dare protest, she told The Times.
“That was ingrained in me from a very young age,” she said. “I was a soldier. Never for a second did I think to say, ‘Hey, I’m not comfortable with this.’”
Who was her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson?
Brian Hickerson, a boyfriend who served jail time for abusing Ms. Panettiere, was with the actress when she died. He has not been accused of being involved in the death.
The two met eight years ago in West Hollywood, Calif., and maintained an on-and-off relationship. In her memoir, Ms. Panettiere said that the couple first moved at “lightning speed” and that Mr. Hickerson was “so easy to be with.” She later described Mr. Hickerson as an abuser and, according to a person with knowledge of their relationship, she enlisted private security in March to keep him away.
Court documents and the memoir detail several instances of domestic violence by Mr. Hickerson, who in 2021 was sentenced to 45 days in jail after pleading no contest to two felony counts of injuring Ms. Panettiere.
In her memoir, Ms. Panettiere said that after one violent incident, Mr. Hickerson apologized and claimed he did not remember what he had done.
“When he’s sober, he always says he’s sorry,” she wrote.
Mr. Hickerson has not responded to requests for comment.
In 2022, according to court records, he was sentenced to several years of formal probation, which included requirements to attend a domestic violence treatment program and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Reporting was contributed by Matt Stevens, Julia Jacobs, Derrick Bryson Taylor and Alan Feuer.
