Hilary Duff Pays Tribute to Hayden Panettiere: ‘I So Deeply Wish This Wasn’t the End for You’

There’s been an outpouring of support from Hayden Panettiere’s entertainment peers following the Heroes actress’ tragic death on Sunday (Aug. 16). Hilary Duff paid tribute to Panettiere with a heartfelt post on social media on Tuesday (Aug. 18).

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Duff, who starred in Disney’s Lizzie McGuire, struck up a friendship with Panettiere in the 2000s as the pair related to one another as Hollywood teen stars. However, they lost touch over the years.

“Sweet Hayden. Really tough hearing this news,” Duff began. “We lost touch through the years but I will always remember you as so hardworking and effervescent, with that big, gorgeous smile. I remember staying up late, chatting and gossiping, and connecting because we were part of such a small sliver of people who actually understood the strange lot in life we were navigating.. so young, with no real idea how to make sense of any of it.”

She continued: “I so deeply wish this wasn’t the end for you. Sending a heart full of love to your family, the many people you impacted and everyone who loved you. rest easy.”

Duff is far from the only star to publicly commemorate Panettiere. Tributes have poured in from SVU actress Mariska Hargitay, Solange, Rosie O’Donnell, Jeremy Piven, 7th Heaven actress Beverley Mitchell, actor Justin Chatwin (Panettiere’s co-star in her final movie, Sleepwalker) and her ex-husband Wladimir Klitschko.

Panettiere passed away at 36 — just days shy of her 37th birthday — on Sunday. She is survived by her father, Skip, and daughter, Maya. Hayden’s death comes three years after her brother, Jansen, died in February 2023 at 28 years old.

“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,” said her father in a statement.

Hayden Panettiere got her start in Hollywood in 1998’s A Bug’s Life. She also starred in Remember the Titans, Scream IV, Racing Stripes, I Love You, Beth Cooper, as well as more prominent roles in TV shows Heroes and Nashville.

Per CNN, the actress was found in her South Carolina home on Sunday in cardiac arrest. First responders attempted emergency life-saving measures to resuscitate her, which were not successful, according to a coroner.

She was ruled dead about a half hour after EMS personnel arrived on the scene. The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Panettiere’s cardiac arrest was induced by an apparent drug overdose.