Hayden Panettiere’s family announced on the 16th of August that she had passed away shortly before her 37th birthday, Reuters reports.
The official statement did not mention the cause of death, but the actress’s publicist Kasey Kitchen told NBC News that an investigation is underway. The British broadcaster BBC writes that in one of her last interviews in May this year, Panettiere said that she still had a lot to experience, and that she felt as if she had finally shaken off all the dark and negative, and this meant that one door had closed and another had opened. During the interview, the actress shared her thoughts on postpartum depression, the persecution she experienced and her relationship with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, the father of her daughter. In 2018, the actress handed over full custody of her daughter to Klitschko.
The actress’s father, Alan Panettiere, said the actress was bright and full of natural strength, and gave love and joy to everyone who knew her, as well as to the millions of viewers who watched her work.
Panettiere first gained fame for voicing the ant princess Dot in Pixar’s award-winning animated film A Bug’s Life.
The actress then starred in the NBC series Heroes from 2006, in which she played a high school cheerleader with superpowers.
The acting union SAG-AFTRA, of which Panettiere had been a member since 1994, expressed its condolences, adding that it was with the actress’s daughter, family, friends and admirers of her talent in this moment of sadness.
Panettiere received two Golden Globe nominations in 2013 and 2014 for her role as Juliet Burns in the musical drama Nashville. The actress also appeared in the satirical horror film franchise Scream. Her most recent role was in the psychological thriller Sleepwalker, which was released in 2026. In it, Panettiere played a grieving mother who suffers from sleepwalking.
In her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” published in May, the actress spoke about the traumatic experience of giving birth to her daughter in 2014, her struggle with postpartum depression, and her subsequent alcohol addiction. Her daughter Kaia and Klitschko currently live in Ukraine.
In 2023, the actress’s brother, Jensen Panettiere, passed away at the age of 28.
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