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“Nashville” actress Hayden Panettiere died, her representative confirmed to Digital. She was 36.
Circumstances surrounding her death were not immediately made available.
“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 rep said in a statement provided to ABC News.
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Hayden Panettiere has died. She was 36. (Getty Images)
The New York native began acting at a young age, and was cast in “One Life to Live” when she was 4 years old. She found fame with a starring role alongside Denzel Washington in the 2000 classic, “Remember the Titans.”
It was at the age of 15 when Panettiere remembered being offered “happy pills,” and her addiction to opioids and alcohol began.
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“They were to make me peppy during interviews,” Panettiere told People in 2022. “I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”
Panettiere noted that as her career skyrocketed, she was drinking and occasionally taking opioids.
“As I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without,” she admitted.
The 36-year-old actress was known for her roles in “Heroes,” “Nashville” and the “Scream” franchise. (Getty Images)
In her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” the actress opened up about why she gave full custody of her daughter, Kaya, to her ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko. Panettiere reveals that her 11-year-old daughter has lived with her father since 2018.
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“I just knew that if I wanted to… I knew how bad a place I was in,” the actress told Digital last month. “I hid it from my daughter as much as I could.”
“When I saw her in the environment over there (in Europe) and the support system that she had, I said to myself, ‘If I fight, if I go to war about this, it’s going to permanently damage my child. It’s going to be incredibly public. She’s got two very famous parents, and it’s going to be ugly.'”
Panettiere recalled being handed a “happy pill” when she was promoting “Heroes” when she was 15 years old. (Adam Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank)
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“I said, ‘You know what? Let her grow up here,'” she said. “I will travel here as much as I can. I know she’s safe. I know she’s well taken care of — beyond well taken care of. She has an incredible life. And I also knew that there would be a day when she would come back to me.”
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Digital’s Christina Dugan Ramirez contributed to this report.
