FILE PHOTO: Hayden Panettiere poses at the 6th Annual Hollywood Style awards at the Armand Hammer museum in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
She was only 36 years old. There’s no word yet on the cause of death.
TMZ says Hayden traveled from L.A. to somewhere in the South on Saturday. Apparently, police had responded to an incident involving Hayden, and they’re actively investigating her death.
Also, friends say she’d been complaining of back pain over the past year.
Her family said, quote, “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden.
“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her, and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”
In May, Hayden released a memoir called “This Is Me: A Reckoning”, where she talked about her personal struggles, including depression, addiction, domestic abuse, and the death of her brother in 2023.
Hayden’s big break was as the indestructible cheerleader on NBC’s “Heroes”, which ran from 2006 to 2010. But by then, she’d already spent years as a child actress. She even played a young ant named Dot in Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life”.
Her other credits included the show “Nashville”, and the fourth and sixth “Scream” movies.
She leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter named Kaya, whom she had with her former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.
