{"id":902009,"date":"2026-09-19T19:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T19:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/902009\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T19:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T19:20:10","slug":"hayden-panettieres-boyfriend-brian-hickerson-reacts-to-memorial-snub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/902009\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend Brian Hickerson reacts to memorial snub"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Hickerson, Hayden Panettiere\u2019s on-again, off-again boyfriend<\/a>, \u201cunderstands\u201d why he was left off the guest list for her celebration of life<\/a>, which is set for Saturday, one month after her death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brian and his brother, Zach \u2014 who was also snubbed from the memorial \u2014 are reportedly not fighting the organizers\u2019 decision to exclude them, TMZ reported<\/a> Friday.<\/p>\n

The brothers are said to recognize the sensitivity surrounding the memorial and respect the decision not to invite them, sources close to them told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Brian Hickerson (pictured above with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Hayden Panettiere in 2018) \u201cunderstands\u201d why he wasn\u2019t invited to her celebration of life. Eric Charbonneau\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

TMZ reported Friday that Brian and his brother, Zach, are not fighting the organizers\u2019 decision to leave them off the guest list. (Panettiere is seen above in a 2013 episode of \u201cNashville.\u201d) \u00a9ABC\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Despite being excluded from the service, Brian, 37, and Zach, 38, reportedly hope it serves as a \u201cbeautiful celebration of [Panettiere], her life and her legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sources said the brothers are still struggling to process her death, with Brian in particular having a difficult time adjusting to life without her.<\/p>\n

Brian has reportedly lost around 40 pounds<\/a> since Panettiere\u2019s death and has struggled to regain a \u201csense of normalcy,\u201d according to the sources.<\/p>\n

They added that he still has moments when he expects to hear from Panettiere and believes the situation could somehow turn out to be a \u201chorrible dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian and Zach are said to still be struggling to process Panettiere\u2019s death, with Brian (pictured above with Panettiere in Florida) having a particularly difficult time adjusting to life without her. SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Brian reportedly still has moments when he expects Panettiere to call him and believes her death could somehow turn out to have been a \u201chorrible dream.\u201d (Panettiere is seen above in an Instagram upload.) Instagram\/haydenpanettiere<\/p>\n

The brothers have also continued to deny any involvement in Panettiere\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

As Page Six previously reported, Panettiere\u2019s loved ones will gather Saturday at a Malibu, California, church<\/a> to celebrate her life.<\/p>\n

Around 150 family members, close friends and former colleagues are expected to attend the private service.<\/p>\n

Brian and Zach have continued to deny any involvement in Panettiere\u2019s death. (Panettiere is pictured above in New York City in 2017.) FilmMagic<\/p>\n

Panettiere will be honored at a celebration of life Saturday at a Malibu, California, church. (A photo of Panettiere was projected on screen during the \u201cIn Memoriam\u201d segment at the 2026 Emmy Awards.) AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Panettiere died at age 36<\/a> on Aug. 16 in Greenville, South Carolina, her family confirmed.<\/p>\n

She was reportedly discovered unresponsive by Zach<\/a> while Brian was sleeping in another room. Zach later claimed that Brian performed CPR and administered Narcan<\/a> after waking up from a nap.<\/p>\n

Page Six previously obtained 911 dispatch audio<\/a> in which a possible \u201coverdose\u201d was mentioned.<\/p>\n

Panettiere (pictured above) died at age 36 on Aug. 16 in Greenville, South Carolina, her family confirmed at the time. haydenpanettiere\/Instagram<\/p>\n

It was recently reported that Panettiere (seen above in New York City in 2024) took a single oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl on the morning of her death. GC Images<\/p>\n

A recent report alleged that Panettiere took a single oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl<\/a> on the morning of her death.<\/p>\n

Her representative, however, called the claim \u201cunverified hearsay\u201d<\/a> in a statement to Page Six and said her death \u201cremains under investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian, meanwhile, was handcuffed by police<\/a> Sept. 12 following an alleged altercation at a Greenville, South Carolina, bar, where he was heard shouting, \u201cGPD leaked it when my girlfriend died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the one-month anniversary of Panettiere\u2019s death, Brian was asked by a photographer at a Greenville gas station Wednesday how he was doing, to which he replied, \u201cHow do you think I\u2019m doing?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Hickerson, Hayden Panettiere\u2019s on-again, off-again boyfriend, \u201cunderstands\u201d why he was left off the guest list for her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[301834,49,48,364,5782,4269,362,75,83360,312018,337,348],"class_list":["post-902009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-brian-hickerson","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrity-couples","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-exes","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-hayden-panettiere","tag-memorials","tag-movies","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}