Hayden Panettiere, who has died aged 36, spoke about her struggles and about giving up custody of her daughter in one of her final interviews before her death. It was announced on Monday (August 17) that the US actress, best known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, had died on Sunday (August 16). At the time of writing, no cause of death has been announced.
Final interview revelations
A representative for the actress confirmed the death, saying her family would remember her as an "incredible light" who brought "immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her". The statement from her father Skip read: "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 father also asked that her family be given privacy as they "take time to process this unimaginable loss".
In one of her final interviews before her death, Panettiere spoke to parenting outlet Mome for its July cover. In it she discussed the life-threatening birth of her daughter Kaya, 11, and the eventual decision to give up custody to her ex-fiance Wladimir Klitschko, 50. While battling substance addiction issues, in 2018 the actress made the decision to sign over custody of her daughter to her ex, a Ukrainian former boxer who was not living in the same country as Panettiere at the time.
Decision to give up custody
She said: "It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, nor was it a decision I even wanted to make. I was going through a really challenging time in my life… I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mum she needed me to be." After giving birth to her daughter in 2014, Panettiere recalled haemorrhaging before she underwent seven blood transfusions and surgery to repair vessels that had begun to fail. She said: "I closed my eyes and just prayed for my daughter to be OK. I truly was ready to go if it was my time. Kaya being safe and healthy was all that mattered."
However, days later she recalled feeling "nothing" when looking at her daughter and developed postnatal depression. The actress then turned to drinking. She said: "I turned to wine, which ultimately ended up leading to an alcohol dependency. It was how I would get through each day." Although she underwent treatment, Panettiere felt the "root cause" of her drinking, the depression, was not addressed. "I wish more people had known what it was at the time. Maybe I wouldn’t have waited so long to get help," she said.
Relationship with daughter and memoir
Six years on from giving up custody, Panettiere spoke about her current relationship with her daughter. She said: "I love my daughter, and I’m so proud of the young woman she is becoming. I talk to her all the time, and I feel so connected to her. She’s like a mini-me." The actress went on to say she had "been able to put her first no matter how I’ve felt or what I’ve experienced" and that she hoped that one day Kaya would “understand my story and why I wasn’t able to be with her all the time". She then called herself "resilient" and a "work in progress", but that she was "doing the work…and doing my best".
Earlier this year, Panettiere released her memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she also detailed being separated from her only child. "Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life, and it’s hard to describe the layers of emotion – including sadness, resentment, and anger – I’ve felt because of it," she wrote. "I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be and definitely not the mother I want to be (trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime), and although I miss Kaya so much my heart aches, I know how blessed I am to be her mom. She is the greatest gift of my life, with all the best parts of her father and me."
