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She was a cheerleader, a country star, a horror icon, and so much more. Join us as we honor the life and legacy of Hayden Panettiere, celebrating her unforgettable performances, the personal battles she fought behind the headlines, and the powerful memoir she left behind that gave the world a glimpse of who she truly was.
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00:00I've been able to hold it together until you guys just all did bad.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're honoring the memory of actress Hayden Panettiere,
00:10reflecting on her extraordinary life, unforgettable performances,
00:14and the remarkable legacy she left behind.
00:17Liar. I'm over this.
00:19I never said I was in your closet.
00:22Her tragic passing.
00:24It is a huge shock. You know, I was just watching Hayden Panettiere
00:28just about two to three months ago as she was doing a press tour for her memoir card,
00:33This Is Me, A Reckoning.
00:34She was on CBS. She was on all the daytime talk shows,
00:38and she really seemed to have gotten her life together.
00:42On August 16, 2026, Hayden Panettiere died at the age of 36
00:46at a South Carolina home where she had been temporarily staying.
00:50Her father, Alan Skip Panettiere, confirmed the news in a statement,
00:54describing his daughter as an incredible light and a force of nature.
00:58Yeah, and we were just hearing the statement that her father put out,
01:02and what's so sad is that Hayden's brother just passed a few years ago as well.
01:08You know, you can't even imagine what that family is going through right now.
01:11Authorities say a 911 call was received about a woman in cardiac arrest,
01:15and dispatch audio referenced a suspected overdose.
01:19Emergency responders found Panettiere unresponsive
01:22and attempted advanced cardiac life support,
01:24but she was pronounced deceased at the scene.
01:26An autopsy has since been completed by the Greenville County Coroner's Office,
01:30which found no signs of trauma contributing to her death.
01:33The Greenville Police Department said overnight
01:35that the preliminary investigation hasn't indicated any signs of foul play
01:39or suspicious circumstances.
01:41The department says it was an acquaintance of Panettiere who placed that 911 call.
01:46However, the specific cause and manner remain undisclosed
01:49pending further investigation and additional studies.
01:52Most poignantly, Panettiere's tragic passing happened only three months
01:56after she published her memoir, This Is Me, A Reckoning.
01:59I really wanted to share with the world that they don't have to be afraid,
02:05that they can live the truth, that they can be imperfect,
02:08that they can, that's, that's being perfectly imperfect is being brave and it's okay.
02:14This Is Me.
02:16For most of Hayden Panettiere's life, other people helped tell her story.
02:20With her 2026 memoir, she tried to take that narrative back.
02:23I didn't dip my toe in.
02:25I knew if I was going to do this, it had to be the full picture,
02:29the big picture of everything my entire life.
02:32And it kind of just spilled out of me
02:34as I went through this two-year process of writing this book.
02:37She wrote about growing up under the management of her mother, Leslie Vogel,
02:41who was also a former actress.
02:43Panettiere recalled feeling intense pressure around auditions
02:46and described her mother as an unbearable manager
02:49who could become angry when she flubbed one.
02:51But over the years, you know, I've tried to leave that door open,
02:55hoping that the relationship would evolve into a healthy mother-daughter relationship.
03:02And it's obvious that that's just not going to be the case.
03:07The memoir also examines body image struggles,
03:10the scrutiny that came with becoming famous young,
03:12and disturbing encounters in Hollywood.
03:15She described once being taken by a trusted older friend,
03:18whom she only referred to as Stella,
03:20into a yacht cabin and pressured to get into bed with an older British singer-songwriter.
03:24It was just very, very confusing.
03:27And then over the years, it just ended up just having so much pent-up resentment
03:33because I never said no, never put boundaries in place.
03:38Panettiere said the experience made her feel betrayed and objectified.
03:41These revelations give the memoir its purpose.
03:44She was reclaiming a life that was often reduced to headlines.
03:48And I was like, you know what?
03:49I need to open up and I need to dare to be brave
03:52and hopefully help other people do the same
03:56and, you know, help women, help everyone.
04:00From child star to Hollywood's next big thing.
04:02Banana nut crunch.
04:04Home baked taste.
04:06Real banana baked into crunchy oat clusters,
04:08chopped walnuts and crispy wheat flakes too.
04:11Who do you think baked this, Mom?
04:13Long before she took on any of her well-known roles,
04:17Hayden Panettiere was already a working performer.
04:19She appeared in her first commercial at just 11 months old,
04:23then moved into daytime television,
04:25playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live
04:27and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light.
04:29I had to do it, Daddy.
04:32I had to.
04:34He was hurting Mommy and
04:37I had to pick up the gun and make girl dead.
04:41Soon after, she transitioned into movies
04:43with appearances in Pixar's A Bug's Life,
04:45where she voiced Princess Dot
04:47and Remember the Titans,
04:48where she played Cheryl Yost.
04:50You did a good job up here.
04:52You were in a tough camp from what I can see.
04:55Well, I'm very happy to have the approval of a five-year-old.
04:59I'm nine and a half, thank you very much.
05:02By her early teens,
05:03Panettiere had something unusual even by Hollywood standards.
05:07Years of professional experience
05:08before she was even old enough to drive.
05:10The memoir adds another dimension to that impressive resume,
05:14showing how the relentless pace of childhood stardom shaped her.
05:18According to Panettiere,
05:19she suffered an injury on the set of 2005's Racing Stripes
05:22and had to endure neck and back pain for many years after.
05:26It's not Stripes' fault.
05:28He's not the problem, it's my fault.
05:32You can't just get rid of him.
05:34I know him better than anyone ever could.
05:39I love him.
05:41Save the cheerleader.
05:42You're being a little dramatic, don't you think?
05:44No, I don't think.
05:46I have busted like every bone in my body,
05:49stabbed myself in the chest,
05:51I've shed a two-foot steel rod through my neck
05:53and I don't have a scratch on me.
05:54It was the explosive debut of Heroes
05:57that catapulted Panettiere into the stratosphere of fame.
06:00Premiering in 2006,
06:02the NBC science fiction drama
06:03cast the 17-year-old Panettiere as Claire Bennett,
06:06a Texas cheerleader with regenerative healing powers.
06:10So what about you, Claire?
06:11Do anything special today?
06:18I walked through fire and I didn't get burned.
06:21Save the cheerleader, save the world
06:23became the show's defining refrain.
06:25And Claire quickly became
06:26one of its most recognizable characters.
06:29Panettiere's performance made her
06:30a breakout star almost overnight.
06:32She was invited to conventions around the world
06:35and became a fixture of the era's celebrity culture.
06:38Are you a reporter or something?
06:40Alumni.
06:41I'm just curious.
06:47You know, between you and me,
06:50she's nothing special.
06:52Just your average teenage girl.
06:54Yet the success came with enormous pressure.
06:57Panettiere had entered Hollywood as a child,
06:59but Heroes turned her into an international star
07:02while she was still a teenager.
07:04Claire's resilience became part of Panettiere's public image,
07:07even as the real person behind it
07:09was beginning to discover how complicated fame could be.
07:12You don't have to do this.
07:20There's got to be another way.
07:22The expansion of her Hollywood reign.
07:25I think she's a normal teenage girl who wants to be normal.
07:28She wants to fit in.
07:29No teenager wants to be different.
07:31She said, oh, I can't die.
07:33Oh, my arm grows back when I cut it off.
07:37I don't know if she's that dramatic.
07:39After Heroes, Panettiere seemed poised for the kind of career expansion
07:43that could turn a breakout into lasting Hollywood dominance.
07:46It didn't take long for her to land a leading role on Nashville,
07:50where she played Juliette Barnes,
07:52a gifted country singer whose ambition, relationships, and insecurities
07:56made her one of the show's most complicated characters.
07:59I know you.
08:00You're burning it up out there, girl.
08:01Oh, thank you.
08:03My mama was one of your biggest fans.
08:04She said she'd listen to you while I was still in her belly.
08:07Well, bless your little heart.
08:09That is a charming story.
08:11Panettiere earned two Golden Globe nominations for the role
08:13and recorded music for the series, including songs that charted.
08:17She also played horror fan favorite Kirby Reed in Scream 4.
08:21In 2015, she starred as Samantha Giddings in Until Dawn.
08:25Why would you do that?
08:28There's all this cool old movie crap down here.
08:31What was I, was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?
08:34Are you, are you serious?
08:36Were you in on this, putz?
08:39All the pieces needed for a huge multi-platform career seemed to be there.
08:44Unfortunately, Panettiere's personal struggles increasingly interrupted the momentum
08:48and stalled the trajectory she should have had.
08:51Name the remake of the groundbreaking horror movie in which the villain...
08:55Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror,
09:01Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine.
09:06The years behind the headlines.
09:07My friends growing up would tell stories and I would realize that I didn't share,
09:12I had no short stories to share with them and it was almost like my brain was blocking
09:17out these large chunks of time.
09:19The chapters of Panettiere's life behind the limelight reveal profound struggles that shaped her.
09:24In her memoir, Panettiere said a former publicist first introduced her to non-prescribed,
09:29quote, happy pills as a teenager, an experience she later connected to her developing substance use disorder.
09:35And this is somebody that I trusted so wholeheartedly to protect me and it never crossed my mind
09:41in that moment that she would put me in a position of harm in any way and it was just
09:46like,
09:47this is a happy pill, it'll give you energy, it'll make you feel great.
09:52After giving birth to her daughter Kaya in 2014, she developed postpartum depression and turned
09:57to alcohol and prescription drugs. In 2018, she signed over custody of Kaya to her former fiancé,
10:04Vladimir Klitschko, so she could focus on recovery. She later stressed that the decision was made with
10:10her daughter's well-being in mind.
10:11I didn't have any negative feelings towards my child. I just knew I was deeply depressed and I
10:17didn't know where, you know, the alcoholism was ending and postpartum was beginning and
10:24and I ran myself pretty ragged.
10:28Panettiere also described years of abuse in her relationship with Brian Hickerson,
10:32who pleaded no contest to felony domestic violence charges in 2021.
10:36Then, in 2023, her younger brother Jansen died unexpectedly at age 28.
10:42These private hardships weighed on Panettiere as she navigated the long,
10:45difficult work of trying to heal in public.
10:48No matter how many years go by, it will always be beside me and it will always be,
10:56I will always be heartbroken about it. I will never be able to get over it.
11:00The comeback that was cut short.
11:02For a time, Panettiere stepped away from acting and from the machinery of celebrity.
11:07Her return began with a reprisal of Kirby Reed in Scream 6.
11:11Special Agent Kirby Reed, FBI. I work out of the Atlanta office.
11:16You lost.
11:18Your two Vicks were residents of my city before they moved here for college.
11:22I have been investigating their online activity for the past few months.
11:25She was also increasingly willing to discuss recovery publicly,
11:29challenging the idea that stepping back meant disappearing.
11:32Then, she released This Is Me, A Reckoning in May, 2026.
11:36The memoir was more than a career retrospective.
11:39It was Panettiere deciding how her own experiences should be understood.
11:43She spoke about wanting to write, produce, and direct,
11:46and about creating healthier conditions for young performers.
11:49But the lengths that people will go to get that shot and the things that they would say to me
11:57at such a young age were appalling.
12:02There was a sense of possibility around this next chapter.
12:05She had survived public scrutiny, substance use disorder, postpartum depression, abuse, and devastating loss.
12:12And she was still looking forward.
12:14I can feel all the possibility.
12:18All the possibilities.
12:20All the exciting possibilities.
12:22I feel like I have a lot more life to live.
12:26Her passing, just months after the memoir's publication, sadly brought that vision to an abrupt end.
12:32The legacy of Hayden Panettiere.
12:34Hayden Panettiere leaves behind a career that crossed generations and mediums.
12:39You can't save me all the time, Peter.
12:41What happened was my fault.
12:43I can't defend myself.
12:45Yeah, I can heal, but what kind of lame power is that?
12:48I'm still just a victim.
12:50For one audience, she will always be Claire Bennett, the indestructible cheerleader from Heroes.
12:55For another, she is Juliette Barnes, the complicated country star of Nashville.
13:00Or Kirby Reed, the fearless horror heroine.
13:03Yes, Trevor, she is upstairs.
13:06Thank God you are here to protect her when you can't even find her.
13:09Gamers know her through Kingdom Hearts and Until Dawn.
13:12But her legacy also exists beyond those roles.
13:15Through her memoir, Panettiere gave audiences a fuller picture of the person behind the celebrity.
13:20A child star shaped by fame, a mother who had to make painful choices, a survivor of substance
13:26use disorder and abuse, and a sister carrying profound grief.
13:31To lose somebody who understands you on that level, yeah, and feeling like I failed to keep
13:39him safe was really hard.
13:42Her death is heartbreaking precisely because her final interview suggested a woman still looking
13:47toward the future.
13:48The world has lost an extraordinary talent, but her work and her own words will forever remain.
13:54I had to remind myself of who I was at my core.
13:57And I had her to remind me how brave I was and what I've been through and what I've accomplished.
14:07And I lost that person and had to re-find her.
14:18I had to remind myself of who I was and what I've been through and what I've been through and
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