Heartbroken Selma Blair leads Hollywood tributes after Hayden Panettiere's shock death at 36: 'Don't be gone. Please'

Selma Blair sounded as if she was in shock as she reacted to the news of her friend Hayden Panettiere's unexpected death on Sunday night.

Blair, 54, was one of the first stars to pay tribute to the late Nashville star when she commented on her final Instagram post shortly after Panettiere was revealed to have died over the weekend at just 36.

'I love you. Don't be gone. Don't be gone. Please. Please,' an anguished Blair wrote under a photo Panettiere had shared on July 27, which ended up being her final Instagram post before her death.

'I love you whale tail my friend,' Blair wrote in another comment 11 minutes later.

The Legally Blonde actress had previously shared kind words with Panettiere after the Heroes star's brother, Jansen Panettiere, died in 2023. 

Panettiere, known for her roles on the hit NBC series Heroes and musical drama Nashville, was remembered as 'an incredible light and a force of nature' by her representatives after they announced her death on Sunday night. She leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter.

Following reports of Hayden Panettiere's unexpected death at 36 over the weekend, stars flocked to pay tribute to the late Heroes star 

Selma Blair, 54, sounded as if she was in shock as she posted an anguished comment on Panettiere's final Instagram post from July 27

 'I love you. Don't be gone. Don't be gone. Please. Please,' an anguished Blair wrote under a photo Panettiere had shared on July 27. 'I love you whale tail my friend,' Blair wrote in another comment 11 minutes later

Representatives for the former child star announced on Sunday: '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.' 

Her cause of death was not immediately clear.

But law enforcement sources have confirmed to TMZ that police responded to an incident involving the actress and an investigation is ongoing.

Sources also told the outlet that Panettiere had been recently complaining of back pain and that her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, flew from Los Angeles to see her just one day before her tragic passing.

The Hollywood star earned multiple award nominations across her career, most notably while playing cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes and Juliette Barnes on Nashville.

She also appeared in the Scream franchise as Kirby Reed, and lent her voice to the video game Until Dawn. 

Hayden Panettiere has tragically died at the age of 36. She is pictured here at a gala in Hollywood in 2022 

The tragic news comes just months after her memoir, This is Me, became a New York Times bestseller

Panettiere is remembered for her roles as Claire Bennet on the hit NBC series Heroes

The tragic news comes just months after her memoir, This is Me, became a New York Times bestseller. 

In the book, Panettiere described how she contended with fame and handled the difficulties in her life. 

She had relinquished custody of her daughter to her ex, former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, while struggling with postpartum depression in 2018. 

Panettiere first started acting at just 11 months old when she appeared on screen in a commercial.

Her full-time acting career then began in 1994 when she played Sarah Roberts in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live until 1997. She then played Lizzie Spaulding in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light from 1996 to 2000.

For her role on Pixar's A Bug's Life, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award and Grammy Award, making her the fifth-youngest nominee for a Grammy. 

Her other credits include Remember the Titans, Ally McBeal, Racing Stripes, Ice Princess and I Love You, Beth Cooper. 

Panettiere also recorded a number of songs for the films and television programs she was in, including My Hero is You for the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise and I Fly for the Disney film Ice Princess, which she co-starred in with the late Michelle Trachtenberg. 

Panettiere started out as a child star, with her first acting gig at just 11 months old

Panettiere leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter with ex Wladimir Klitschko

She played Juliette Barnes on the ABC show Nashville, releasing a number of her own songs

Her first single not associated with an acting role, the reggae-infused Wake Up Call, was digitally released on August 5, 2008.

Clothing brand Candie's announced it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July of that year, and provided additional promotion for the song with a television ad and a music video starring Sebastian Stan, who played Panettiere's brother in The Architect.

More recently, Panettiere has come out as bisexual.

'It's sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?' the Nashville alum told Us Weekly in May.

'I've chosen to share it with the world, I'm comfortable saying I'm bisexual. I'm comfortable to confidently say that, yes, I am bisexual. I said it!'

Despite having little privacy due to 'paparazzi always outside waiting for me,' Panettiere still managed to secretly date women, whom she preferred to men from 'a very, very young age.'

'[I was] much more into women,' the two-time Golden Globe nominee said.

'But, yeah, I have explored it, but I don't think I ever had the courage, because I hadn't shared this with anybody. 

'I didn't really have the courage to throw myself fully, emotionally into it, because then if I did fall in love, that wasn't something that I wanted to ever have to hide. I didn't feel confident enough, and I was too afraid to really let that part of me explore that part of me.'