Hayden Panettiere death latest: Heroes star’s on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson present at scene when actor died

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Hayden Panettiere, who became a household name as a teenager for her role in Heroes and later starred in Nashville and multiple Scream films, has died at age 36.

Panettiere was pronounced dead at a South Carolina apartment Sunday, August 16. A cause of death has not been revealed, but an autopsy showed no signs of trauma. Toxicology reports are pending and could take up to 12 weeks, according to the Greenville County Coroner’s Office.

A newly released incident report states that the 911 call was made by Brian Hickerson, 37, who is referred to as Panettiere’s boyfriend. He eportedly turned over a “bag of medication” belonging to Panettiere to the police, but the contents of that bag has so far been redacted. His brother Zach Hickerson was also present on the scene. The Independent has approached police for further information.

The actor’s father, Skip, confirmed Panettiere’s death in a heartbreaking statement to ABC News. Panettiere’s ex-fiance, Wladimir Klitschko said he was “deeply saddened” by the news but vowed to make sure the couple’s daughter, Kaya, “remembers the person” Panettiere was.

Dozens of Panettiere’s co-stars including Heroes actor Masi Oka, Nashville co-star Connie Britton, Tim Allen, Viola Davis and Melissa Barrera have offered heartfelt tributes to the two-time Golden Globe nominee on social media.

Among her most memorable roles were Sheryl Yoast in the 2000 Denzel Washington-led film Remember the Titans, high school cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC’s sci-fi drama Heroes (2006-2010), and aspiring country singer Juliette Barnes on the hit TV series Nashville (2012-2018).

Her New York Times bestselling memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, was published in May this year, in which she looked back at her childhood in Hollywood and her experiences with addiction, postpartum depression, abusive relationships, and the loss of custody of her daughter, Kaya, whom she shares with former heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

Hayden Panettiere dead: Heroes and Nashville star dies aged 36

Wladimir Klitschko breaks silence over ex-fiancée’s death

Hayden Panettiere was a passionate advocate of Ukraine

Panettiere’s daughter moved to Ukraine to live with her father, boxer Wladimir Klitschko, in 2018, when Russia had illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and separatist forces were fighting Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region.

When Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022, Klitschko, whose brother Vitalii is the mayor of Kyiv and also a former boxing champion, enlisted in the army. Kaya, the outlet reported, was not in Ukraine from the early days of the war.

Panettiere posted repeated messages of solidarity with Ukraine on Instagram in the years that followed.

“I have personally witnessed the strength of the Ukrainian people who fought so hard for their independence and have continued to passionately defend their country over the years. What Putin is doing is an absolute disgrace!,” she wrote on Instagram shortly after the invasion.

“This horrific moment in history sends a terrifying message: the message that in this day and age, in year 2022, it’s okay to violate the rights of free people and allow autocrats like Putin to take whatever they please,” she added.

Jacob Stolworthy19 August 2026 12:02

Hayden Panettiere’s tragic quest to outrun her child stardom

It’s clear that Hollywood has created a market that urgently needs abolishing, says Claire Cohen.

Jacob Stolworthy19 August 2026 11:20

Hayden Panettiere’s history wth on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson

When Hayden Panettiere died on Sunday, the 36-year-old Heroes and Nashville star was in South Carolina with an on-and-off boyfriend she’d once described as her “abuser.”

Here is what we know about Hickerson:

Jacob Stolworthy19 August 2026 11:05

I interviewed Hayden Panettiere twice – and both times left me incredibly sad

The ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville’ star, who has died at the age of 36, was grief-stricken, traumatised, and – despite promoting a memoir she described as ‘brutally honest’ – seemed not entirely ready to discuss her very difficult past in the press.

Adam White19 August 2026 10:50

Panettiere’s estranged mother speaks out about her daughter’s death

Lesley Vogel took aim at Panettiere’s on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson in her first public comments since the death of her daughter, Hayden Panettiere, telling NBC News: “This 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.”

Vogel, who was estranged from Panettiere at the time of her death, added: “I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry – it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.

“I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different. I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes.”

(Getty)

She concluded: “I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace.” Panettiere’s younger brother Jansen died unexpectedly in 2023 at the age of 28.

Panettiere’s relationship with Vogel had become strained long before her death. In her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, she wrote that the boundary between mother and manager had blurred as she grew up, leaving her feeling she had become “the confidant and the assistant and the therapist and the shoulder to cry on and everything but her child”.

Jacob Stolworthy19 August 2026 10:25

‘Ice Princess’ director remembers Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg

In a statement to Variety, Fywell said: “It was really upsetting to hear yesterday of the death of Hayden Panettiere at the age of 36. I remember a brave, sparky, dedicated young actress who lit up the set in rehearsals and then the screen with her vibrant talent. Michelle Trachtenberg, Hayden’s co-star in the movie, and she were an amazing pair.”

(Walt Disney)

Fywell added that the pair had “very different personalities.” While Trachtenberg was “kooky, fun, with an infectious laugh and her brilliant sad-funny comic timing,” Panettiere was “plucky and determined and perfectionist, spending hours practicing her skating and utterly focused on getting every acting take spot-on and truthful. Which she did.”

Fywell concluded: “In what was often a tough and technically complicated shoot, and my first Hollywood movie, they were delightful to work with and great to have around. I remember them both with huge affection, how they were 20 odd years ago, at that relatively uncomplicated time of their lives, two shining talents, gone far too soon.”

Jacob Stolworthy19 August 2026 10:00

Hayden Panettiere: ‘I think a lot about what my life could have been like if I did that film’

A few years ago, during a conversation with her former agent, Hayden Panettiere discovered the truth about a situation that had always nagged at her. In 2000, when she was an 11-year-old child actor Panettiere was fired from David Fincher’s home invasion thriller Panic Room after Nicole Kidman left the project, due to an injury. Or so she was told.

In fact, Fincher had wanted Panettiere to stay on with Jodie Foster, who was replacing Kidman. But he’d asked her mother if Panettiere could cut her hair into a bob, in order to better match Foster. Panettiere’s mother refused.

“I was so out of the loop,” Panettiere recalled in an interview with The Independent in May. “And it was one of the harder things that I’ve experienced. I didn’t think it was fair. And I think a lot about what my life could have been like if I did that film. What parts could I have played? What person would I have been?”

She met Panic Room’s eventual child star, Kristen Stewart, at a friend’s birthday party days before the interview. “We talked about everything that happened, and she was so kind. I felt like, finally, I was able to get it off my chest and let it go.”

Adam White19 August 2026 09:40

Incident report confirms Panettiere’s on-off boyfriend and brother called police

Police in Greenville, South Carolina, have released an incident report revealing further details about the circumstances of Panettiere’s death.

As local station WYFF4 reports, Panettiere died in an apartment at Judson Mill Lofts on Easley Bridge Road.

Brian Hickerson, 37, who is referred to as Panettiere’s boyfriend, was also present at the apartment with his brother, Zach.

According to the report, the men say they made the 911 call.

The report also states that Brian Hickerson turned over a bag of Panettiere’s medications, but the list of those medications was redacted.

Jacob Stolworthy19 August 2026 09:20