Hayden Panettiere appeared emotional and was reported to have struggled with her speech during what became her final public appearance – a Los Angeles book event less than three months before her sudden death at 36.
The Heroes and Nashville star appeared at the Harmony Gold Theater on May 26 to discuss and sign copies of her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which had been published a week earlier.
Hayden was found unresponsive at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday, August 16, and pronounced dead after emergency crews attempted to resuscitate her.
An autopsy has since found no trauma contributing to her death, while the cause and manner remain undetermined pending further investigation.
A source who attended the May event has now told Page Six: “Her speech appeared slow and slurred at times during the book signing.”
The attendee said Hayden also became visibly emotional while discussing some of the experiences detailed in her memoir, which covered her childhood in Hollywood, addiction, postpartum depression, abusive relationships and the death of her younger brother Jansen Panettiere, who died aged 28 in 2023.
According to Page Six’s source, organisers repeatedly told the audience not to record the event and subsequently prohibited photographs and videos as attendees approached Hayden during the signing.
The insider recalled when one attendee attempted to record Hayden, an organiser used a megaphone and said: “Don’t be rude.”
A second source told Page Six: “Earlier this year, she did seem a little tired at times. But she was a night owl and… she has a lot on her plate.
“Hayden also suffered from anxiety at times, and I know she would occasionally take medication for that. And every so often that could impact her speech.”
Hayden also spoke during the event about why she had decided to make intensely personal experiences public, saying that people had previously approached her and told her that hearing her discuss mental health had encouraged them to seek help.
She said: “I can hopefully leave the world a better place than I found it.”
Hayden also described experiencing an identity crisis as a child after spending much of her early life working in front of cameras.
She said: “I had my first identity crisis. I remember exactly where I was, standing in my bedroom at 12 years old.”
Hayden began appearing in commercials as an infant before acting in the soaps One Life to Live and Guiding Light.
Speaking about childhood auditions, she said: “It’s the most brutal experience, like the stark cold room, and just this row of people judging you.”
She added: “I wasn’t checking in with myself. I’m a perfectionist. Like, I’ve been groomed. I’m so militant because, I’ve been groomed from such a young age that you don’t ask questions.”
This Is Me: A Reckoning became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller and detailed Hayden’s experiences growing up in the entertainment industry alongside her later struggles with addiction and motherhood.
The book also revisited her years on Nashville, where Hayden said elements of her character Juliette Barnes’s troubled life began to resemble her own experiences.
The memoir was at the center of Hayden’s public appearances during May.
She also appeared on CBS Mornings and the Tamron Hall Show and spoke to Jay Shetty for his On Purpose podcast.
During her conversation with Jay, Hayden expressed optimism about the future after the difficulties she had experienced.
She said: “I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity.”
Hayden added: “I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”
Her death less than three months later remains under investigation.
Emergency services responded to a 911 call at about 1.51pm on Sunday after Hayden was found unresponsive in Greenville.
Dispatch audio referred to an “unresponsive female”, cardiac arrest and a possible overdose.
TMZ subsequently reported Narcan, which can reverse an opioid overdose, was found at the residence. Its presence does not establish Hayden’s cause of death.
The Greenville County Coroner’s Office said Hayden was pronounced dead at 2.32pm after attempts to resuscitate her. An autopsy carried out on Monday found “no signs of trauma” contributing to her death, and authorities have reported no evidence of foul play.
Hayden’s family announced her death in a statement.
Her father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere, said: “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.”
Hayden is survived by her daughter Kaya, 11, whom she shared with former fiancé and former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, 50.
Hayden had written extensively in her memoir about the circumstances surrounding Kaya living primarily with Wladimir and the emotional impact of their separation.
Her breakthrough role came as Claire Bennet, the cheerleader with regenerative powers in NBC’s Heroes.
Hayden later received two Golden Globe nominations for playing country singer Juliette Barnes in Nashville.
Her film credits included Remember the Titans, Scream 4 and Scream VI, in which she played Kirby Reed.
