Hayden Panettiere, the actress who shot to fame as the indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC’s “Heroes” before starring as country singer Juliette Barnes on “Nashville,” has died.
She was 36.
Panettiere’s father confirmed her death to ABC News on Sunday.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” Skip Panettiere said in a statement.
“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,” the statement continued.
No cause of death or details about the circumstances surrounding her death were immediately provided.
Panettiere’s shocking death came just three months after she published her deeply candid memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” in which the former child star opened up about her harrowing battles with alcohol and opioid addiction, postpartum depression, domestic abuse and the pressures of growing up in Hollywood.
The Palisades, NY, native had been working since she was a baby, appearing in commercials at just 11 months old before landing roles on the soaps “One Life to Live” and “Guiding Light.” She was homeschooled after middle school to balance her education with her grueling acting schedule.
She became one of the youngest actors to be nominated for a Grammy Award for voicing Princess Dot in the 1998 movie “A Bug’s Life” at 9 years old.
She later appeared in movies including “Remember the Titans” at 10 years old, before becoming a household name as Claire Bennet on “Heroes,” which premiered in 2006.
She also became a star in several coming-of-age films and teen rom-coms in the early 2000s including Disney’s “Ice Princess,” “Racing Stripes,” and “Bring It On: All or Nothing,” and “I Love You, Beth Cooper.”
But as her career flourished, Panettiere was privately battling addiction — a struggle she would later detail publicly.
She said her drinking began to spiral after she moved to Tennessee to film “Nashville” in 2012 and worsened following the 2014 birth of her daughter, Kaya, when she also battled postpartum depression. She shares Kaya with former pro boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
An old neck injury later led her to take prescription opioids, Panettiere said, and her tolerance quickly grew into a dependency.
She first checked herself into rehab in 2015, saying she felt as though she was “drowning.”
Panettiere later returned to drinking, which she said became a crutch for dealing with anxiety and life in the public eye.
By the time she turned 30, the abuse had taken a frightening physical toll.
“My face was swollen. I had jaundice. My eyes were yellow. I had to go to a liver specialist,” Panettiere told Women’s Health.
“I was holding on to weight that wasn’t normally there. My hair was thin and coming out in clumps.”
In her memoir, the mom of one revealed that a doctor had warned her that if she continued drinking, she could be dead within five years.
She eventually underwent an eight-month stint in treatment, describing severe withdrawal symptoms that included shaking, insomnia, headaches and an episode of auditory hallucinations.
After treatment, Panettiere described sobriety as bringing her a newfound sense of calm, happiness and clarity.
The star had also spoken publicly about the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of her former boyfriend Brian Hickerson.
Hickerson pleaded no contest in 2021 to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend and was sentenced to 45 days in county jail and four years of formal probation.
Panettiere suffered another devastating loss in February 2023, when her younger brother, Jansen, died suddenly at just 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition.
“When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul,” Panettiere told People in 2024.
She said she struggled to leave her home after his death as her previous battle with agoraphobia resurfaced.
“When you lose somebody that you saw in all of the important moments in your life, standing right next to you, it just rocks your world,” she said on “Today” in September 2024.
Despite those struggles, Panettiere returned to acting after a roughly four-year hiatus, reprising her role as Kirby Reed in 2023’s “Scream VI.”
She followed that comeback with the 2024 thriller “Amber Alert,” 2025’s “A Breed Apart” and the psychological thriller “Sleepwalker,” released in January 2026.
Just a month before her death, Panettiere abruptly canceled an appearance at Creep I.E. Con, with her rep telling Page Six that she was dealing with “a private family matter concerning the health of an elderly relative.”
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