Hayden Panettiere’s cause of death revealed
Posted September 22, 2026 10:37 am
2 min read
Hayden Panettiere died from the toxic effects of fentanyl and other drugs, The Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed Tuesday.
“The cause of death has been ruled as toxic effects of fentanyl, 4-ANPP, Alprazolam, Methocarbamol, and Quetiapine. The manner of death has been ruled an accident,” the statement read, adding that an autopsy showed no signs of trauma that would have contributed to the death.
Hayden Panettiere, ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville’ actress, dies at 36
The star of television series such as Heroes and Nashville died on August 16 at the age of 36.
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Her father, Skip Panettiere, announced her death, saying, “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.”
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Police were called to an address in Greenville, S.C., at about 1:50 p.m. on August 16, where Panettiere was found unresponsive in a reported cardiac arrest, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office told Global News at the time.
Advanced cardiac life-saving measures were performed, but she was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 p.m., the coroner said.
Panettiere began acting at the age of four, appearing in soap operas and TV commercials.
Her role as a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes propelled her to fame in 2006, with the series revolving around the mantra “save the cheerleader, save the world.”
She went on to win three Teen Choice Awards for that role and was a Grammy Award nominee for a children’s spoken word album recorded a few years after the release of the animated movie A Bug’s Life. She later received two supporting actress nominations at the Golden Globes for her role as Juliette Barnes in Nashville.
Tributes continue to pour in for Hayden Panettiere
The actor, who published her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning in May, had spoken publicly about her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter with Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. He has had full custody of the child since 2018.
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“I think there’s been this very common misconception that I just gave up my child,” she told podcaster Jay Shetty in an interview earlier this year. “That could not be farther from the truth.”
In recent years, she had been in a tumultuous relationship with Brian Hickerson, with whom she split and reconciled several times. He was at the scene when she died.
Panettiere also appeared in two Scream films and starred in the 2000s films Ice Princess and Bring It On: All or Nothing and as the title character in the 2009 film I Love You Beth Cooper. She also played the young daughter of a football coach in Remember the Titans.
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