Hayden Panettiere appeared happy and carefree in final Instagram post weeks before sudden death at 36
Hayden Panettiere appeared happy and carefree while celebrating with a friend in her final Instagram post just weeks before her shocking death at 36.
Read more Hayden Panettiere’s life in photos: Remembering the actress before her death at 36
The “Heroes” and “Nashville” star shared a playful black-and-white snap on July 27 showing her winking and smiling with her tongue out as she wrapped an arm around photographer Randall Slavin at what appeared to be a crowded gathering.
“Good times and good friends @randallslavin ✨,” Panettiere captioned the post.
Slavin appeared to mourn the actress Sunday night after news of her death broke, reposting the same photo to his Instagram Story alongside the message, “Peace be with you, H.”
Panettiere’s father confirmed her sudden death to ABC News on Sunday. No cause of death or details about the circumstances surrounding her death were immediately provided. The Post has reached out to her representative.
Panettiere’s final post was flooded with stunned fans mourning the former child star as word of her death spread.
“I’m in shock. this is beyond unfair. rest in peace with your brother🤍 you are so loved and will be so sorely missed,” one person wrote.
“I love you. Don’t be gone. Don’t be gone. Please. Please,” another devastated fan pleaded.
“This makes me sooo sad she was in so many of my favorite things growing up,” another commenter wrote, adding that Panettiere’s 2006 movie “Bring It On: All or Nothing” was “such a big part of my childhood.”
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“This feels like … Personal,” the fan added.
Others initially struggled to believe the news.
“Someone please tell me this is a hoax😢,” one person wrote.
“NO THIS CANT BE TRUE 😢,” another posted.
“Rest in peace, angel 🤍,” another fan wrote.
The actress had released her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” in May, detailing her battles with alcohol and opioid addiction, postpartum depression, domestic abuse, trauma and loss.
She had also endured the sudden death of her younger brother, Jansen, who died at just 28 from a heart condition in February 2023.
“When I lost him, I felt like I lost half of my soul,” Panettiere told People in 2024.
Panettiere had returned to acting after a roughly four-year hiatus, reprising her role as Kirby Reed in 2023’s “Scream VI” and later appearing in “Amber Alert,” “A Breed Apart” and “Sleepwalker.”
Just a month before her death, Panettiere abruptly canceled a planned appearance at Creep IE Con.
Her representative told Page Six at the time that the cancellation was “due to a private family matter concerning the health of an elderly relative.”
Read more Hayden Panettiere, star of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ dead at 36
