Hayden Panettiere is opening up about one of the darkest days of her life — the devastating moment she learned her younger brother, Jansen, had died.
In “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” Hayden says she was preparing for the “Scream VI” premiere in 2023 when she intentionally ignored a call from her dad … only to answer when he rang her again, and delivered the tragic news.
According to Hayden, her father was hysterical and struggling to breathe as he explained Jansen had missed a 9 AM appointment, prompting a friend to check on him — only to find him dead in a chair with a comforter over him, like he’d simply fallen asleep.
Hayden says her brain instantly went into autopilot during the call, and she calmly called her now-estranged mother Lesley Vogel — who was enjoying the sunshine at Venice Beach at the time — before the reality of everything finally hit her.
The actress says she completely broke down afterward, crawling into bed and refused to get out for the rest of the day.
As TMZ previously reported, Jansen was found dead inside his Nyack apartment in February 2023 at just 28 years old. He died from an undiagnosed heart condition.