{"id":861658,"date":"2026-08-20T05:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T05:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861658\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T05:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T05:38:17","slug":"hayden-panettiere-boyfriend-who-is-brian-hickerson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861658\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayden Panettiere boyfriend: Who is Brian Hickerson?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nell<\/p>\n

August 20, 2026 \u2014 12:15pm<\/p>\n

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Hayden Panettiere\u2019s on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach were both in the apartment complex where the actor went into cardiac arrest and died earlier this week<\/a>, according to police reports.<\/p>\n

The Greenville Police Department<\/a> confirmed on Tuesday (US time), via a heavily redacted report, that it was the Hickerson brothers who made the 911 call over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"HaydenHayden Panettiere\u2019s on-and-off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson was with her when she died.Getty<\/p>\n

Hickerson, who dated Panettiere on-and-off from 2018, reportedly \u201cdid not become emotional\u201d until paramedics officially declared her dead. He spoke with the police about the actor, and showed them \u201ca bag of medications\u201d she had been taking, according to the police report. The names of the medications were redacted.<\/p>\n

Hickerson and his brother Zach \u2013 who Panettiere also reportedly dated in 2019 \u2013 have not been accused of any involvement in Panettiere\u2019s death. A preliminary investigation did not indicate any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances, and the Greenville County Coroner\u2019s Office reported no signs of trauma that would have contributed to her death. The case is still under investigation, and the official cause and manner of Panettiere\u2019s death remains pending.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Hayden<\/a><\/p>\n

A lawyer who has represented Hickerson was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Hickerson\u2019s presence at the scene has brought his turbulent relationship with Panettiere back into the spotlight. The actor detailed several instances of abuse by Hickerson in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, released in May.<\/p>\n

The relationship appeared to end in 2020 amid the allegations. During recent interviews to promote her memoir, Panettiere even recounted her efforts to distance herself from an abusive boyfriend. \u201cAbusers \u2013 they weave themselves like weeds into your life,\u201d she said on a podcast in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following her death, Panettiere\u2019s estranged mother Lesley Vogel told US outlets that Panettiere was trying to distance herself from Hickerson, but she \u201clost her way\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson,\u201d Vogel told NBC News this week<\/a>. \u201cI think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different \u2026 I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police attended the home of Hickerson\u2019s family on Wednesday (US time), just days after Panettiere went into cardiac arrest. However, the Greenville Police Department said this was a welfare check<\/a>, and it did not relate to the investigation into the actor\u2019s death. No incident report was required.<\/p>\n

Who is Brian Hickerson?<\/p>\n

Hickerson is a 37-year-old aspiring actor from South Carolina. His romantic relationship with Panettiere reportedly began in 2018 when they met in West Hollywood. According to Panettiere, their entanglement progressed rapidly, with the pair spending most of their time together, largely unbeknownst to Panettiere\u2019s family members.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe pair were first linked in 2018, but went on to have a turbulent on-and-off-again relationship with multiple alleged incidents of domestic violence. Getty<\/p>\n

However, the Heroes actor details multiple instances in which Hickerson abused her in her memoir. During one particular instance, she said he beat her so badly that she did not leave the house for weeks. Panettiere notes in her book that she did not report the abuse to police to prevent the public from finding out.<\/p>\n

According to People magazine<\/a>, Hickerson was arrested on a domestic violence charge in May 2019, and was charged with felony domestic violence in May. This was then dismissed in September.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Hollywood,<\/a><\/p>\n

On Valentine\u2019s Day in 2020, Panettiere wrote that a night of drinking turned violent when Hickerson pushed her into a wall and slapped her. According to The New York Times,<\/a> police responded to a call about a disturbance and Hickerson spent the night in jail.<\/p>\n

He was charged with seven felony counts, including assault, injuring a spouse or partner, dissuading a witness from prosecuting a crime, and misdemeanour battery. He pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring Panettiere.<\/p>\n

Hickerson subsequently served a short amount of time in jail, and was sentenced to four years of probation, anger management and Alcoholics Anonymous sessions (which, according to Hickerson, are led by actor Shia LaBeouf<\/a>).<\/p>\n

These requirements have since been fulfilled, and Hickerson recently worked with his legal representative to try and reduce his conviction to misdemeanours. These requests, one of which was made as recently as last week, have so far been denied.<\/p>\n

Have they been together since?<\/p>\n

Panettiere and Hickerson were seen together several times since the charges were placed.<\/p>\n

The pair were seen having a physical fight outside a bar in Los Angeles in 2022, according to\u00a0People.<\/a> \u201cNone of it is okay, and I want to make sure that everybody knows that,\u201d Panettiere told the magazine at the time. \u201cBut I am open to people who are willing to get help and make amends. He\u2019s gone to treatment and done his time. And I\u2019m trying to live in a place of forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HaydenHayden Panettiere and Brian Hickerson both attended the funeral of Panettiere\u2019s brother in 2023.GC Images<\/p>\n

Hickerson also attended the funeral of Panettiere\u2019s brother Jansen, who died from an enlarged heart in 2023.<\/p>\n

The pair were seen together as recently as March 2026, when they were spotted at the Los Angeles Airport. However, according to The New York Times<\/a>, Panettiere hired private security that same month to help keep Hickerson away.<\/p>\n

What did Panettiere say about their relationship?<\/p>\n

In 2022, Panettiere shared her thoughts on their relationship with People. \u201cIt was a very dark and complicated time in my life. But a lot of women go through what I went through, and I want people to know it\u2019s okay to ask for help,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Hayden<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am trying to live in a place of understanding. I think [Hickerson] has done his time and was willing to get help. I think about the things I have done in my life that people forgave me for. Making amends is a really important thing that you learn in treatment. And it gives you a lot of inner peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her memoir, Panettiere was open about her own struggles with alcohol addiction and substance abuse. In 2015, she checked herself into a treatment facility to get professional help for postpartum depression, and in early 2020, she entered an in-patient treatment centre for alcohol and opioid addiction.<\/p>\n

She also expressed how she felt while Hickerson was serving time in jail. \u201cI needed him to admit his wrongs and change because of them, but I didn\u2019t want to traumatise him in an irreversible way,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 22 4636.<\/p>\n

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\"NellNell Geraets<\/a> is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 20, 2026 \u2014 12:15pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-861658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}