# Hayden Panettiere passes away **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [August 17, 2026, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372 "2026-08-17T03:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/41 "2026-08-18T00:49:17Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > So you’re bitching that local news leads the local news? No, I was making an aside mentioning it until Dewy Finn decided to argue with me about it. Like you are doing now. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/42 "2026-08-18T00:52:15Z")
I think she never recovered\* from the death of her younger brother. \*or the closest thing to recovery, whatever that looks like. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/43 "2026-08-18T00:53:31Z")
Closed on August 18, 2026, 12:53am UTC ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/44 "2026-08-18T00:55:15Z")
@Darren_Garrison & @Zakalwe drop this silly back and forth or take it to a new thread. It has gone on embarrassingly long now and flags are coming in. **Moderating:** ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/45 "2026-08-18T01:02:19Z")
Opened on August 18, 2026, 1:02am UTC ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/46 "2026-08-18T15:10:54Z")
Very sad, she was way too young. And reading an article about her I discovered that Daveigh Chase (Samantha from Donnie Darko) succumbed to addiction in June. Apparently she really hit bottom. Why is this still happening after so many years of child actors coming to bad ends that it’s become a cliche? Some of these were due to uncaring parents using kids as a meal ticket but that’s not the whole story. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/47 "2026-08-18T15:54:23Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Very sad, she was way too young. And reading an article about her I discovered that Daveigh Chase (Samantha from Donnie Darko) succumbed to addiction in June. Apparently she really hit bottom. She was the English voice of the little girl in Spirited Away, often considered Miyazaki’s best(or in the top tier) movie. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/48 "2026-08-18T16:07:13Z")
She apparently pivoted from horror to voice work. She was in a motorcycle accident and started taking painkillers so I guess not the classic child star route to addiction. Her actual cause of death was complications to AIDS. Panettiere looks like it was the aggressive stage mother. And yes, I’m sure the loss of her brother was devastating. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/49 "2026-08-18T16:19:33Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > She apparently pivoted from horror to voice work. She was in a motorcycle accident and started taking painkillers so I guess not the classic child star route to addiction. Her actual cause of death was complications to AIDS. To whom is this paragraph in reference? EDIT: Never mind, you were referring to Daveigh Chase, not Panettiere. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/50 "2026-08-18T16:26:32Z")
I’ve mentioned before that Crispin Glover was a good friend of mine from the ages of 14-18. His father Bruce was a working actor. Crispin wanted to be an actor pretty much from birth. Bruce had seen way too much of what happened to child actors. We all know about the famous ones but there are legions of untold stories of others who never achieved fame. Aside from school drama clubs, Bruce wouldn’t allow Crispin to enter the trade until he was 16. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/51 "2026-08-18T16:27:28Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > And yes, I’m sure the loss of her brother was devastating. Her brother died of cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart), a condition which has a genetic component, as I understand it (though substance abuse also can play a role). It makes me wonder if that was a factor in her death. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/52 "2026-08-18T16:31:00Z")
Yeah, sorry about that. I hit the wrong reply arrow. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/53 "2026-08-18T17:40:22Z")
Maybe, but it almost has to be drugs. 35 year olds rarely die of heart attacks at home. Like, maybe in the midst of a sporting event or something, if they have that type of condition. But home? It’s very sad, but “i wonder what drug” was my first thought when i heard about it. I had no idea she lost her brother. That is almost certainly a contributing factor. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/54 "2026-08-18T17:46:12Z")
Very interesting. I really like the Crispin Glover movie Willard; he gave a very underappreciated performance. Would you say he was pretty normal at a teen? He got this reputation for being odd, but I always kind of wondered if he was odd or if it’s just a public perception thing. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/55 "2026-08-18T18:01:29Z")
I don’t want to hijack too much but he was a very weird kid (in a very good way) with an unusual sense of humor (also in a good way). The famous Letterman appearance was a performance piece done in character. That wasn’t the real Crispin. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/56 "2026-08-18T19:07:55Z")
Apologies if this has been mentioned earlier (a search turned up nothing) or in a linked article, but I just learned that Hayden played Sheryl Yoast, the coach’s daughter in _Remember the Titans._ ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/57 "2026-08-18T19:18:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Her brother died of cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart), a condition which has a genetic component, as I understand it (though substance abuse also can play a role). He did and that was what the family officially released. Unofficially Hayden Panettiere herself said he also was a heavy drug user in the months leading up to his death, including heroin and crack. Heroin, crack and pre-existing heart conditions do not mix well. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/58 "2026-08-18T19:57:24Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > He did and that was what the family officially released. Unofficially Hayden Panettiere herself said he also was a heavy drug user in the months leading up to his death, including heroin and crack. Heroin, crack and pre-existing heart conditions do not mix well Huh, I had no idea. I can’t imagine what the parents are going through after the two most painful things that can happen to a parent have happened. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/59 "2026-08-18T20:00:15Z")
> Hayden Panettiere’s onetime boyfriend and his brother were at the South Carolina apartment complex where the “Heroes” actor [went into cardiac arrest and died Sunday](https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/actor-hayden-panettiere-dies-36-rcna592856), according to a police incident report obtained by NBC News. In the heavily redacted report, the Greenville Police Department said Panettiere’s on-again, off-again partner, Brian Hickerson, and his brother, Zach Hickerson, were at the scene inside the apartment complex, Judson Mill Lofts… > > Panettiere’s romantic relationship with Hickerson, an aspiring actor from South Carolina, appeared to end in 2020 amid allegations of domestic violence. She wrote about some of those experiences in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which was published three months before she died. In the book, **Panettiere wrote that one night, Hickerson beat her so badly that she did not leave the house for weeks.** > **[Hayden Panettiere’s ex-boyfriend was at scene when she died, police report says](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hayden-panettieres-ex-boyfriend-was-scene-died-police-report-says-rcna593125)** > > Brian Hickerson, the actor’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, did not become visibly emotional until EMS declared the 36-year-old dead Sunday, according to a police incident report. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372/60 "2026-08-18T20:47:32Z")
That’s a little creepy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hayden-panettiere-passes-away/1032372.md?page=4)