Hayden Panettiere 'literally had to live by' advice on her meaningful tattoo after error aged 19
Hayden Panettiere had to ‘live by’ a wholesome tattoo she got as a teen, as tributes pour in for the star following news of her death aged 36.
The Greenville Police Department are now investigating the death of the actress, after she was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at an apartment complex in the region on Sunday afternoon (August 16).
In a statement, her father, 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."
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Panettiere starred as a cheerleader with superpowers in Heroes, an aspiring country singer in Nashville, and, as a child star, delivered memorable performances in films, including Remember the Titans and Raising Helen.
Soon after getting engaged to boxing star Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, the star opened up about a tattoo she got at just 19 - only to reveal it contained an error, meaning she had to live by the meaning behind it.
Panettiere got 'Vivere senza rimipianti' written down her back, which is Italian for 'Live without regrets' - only the artist spelt 'regrets (rimpianti)' wrong.
"So I literally have to live by that advice," she said while speaking with Glamour.
Opening up about the tattoo's meaning, the star explained: "When I was younger, I was upset, and my dad said he wanted to show me something. He slammed one door of the bathroom, and the closet door popped open — it was a trick with the air.
"He said, Whenever one door closes, another one always opens."
Panettiere added: "It's not that you don't regret things in life, but you at least try to learn from them."
Elsewhere during the interview, the late actress branded her generation of young Hollywood the 'Messy Generation, the generation of the disaster child'.
Aged 23 at the time, she said: "I will never say that I'm perfect; I will never pretend to be perfect.
"That's just unrealistic. You're kind of unexpectedly put in this position of becoming a role model; that's not something you choose."
Hayden Panettiere on motherhood
She and Klitschko welcomed a baby girl in 2014, who they named Kaya.
Speaking during the Glamour interview, she admitted: "Motherhood is the most beautiful, exciting thing, and there's nothing that I feel like I can't accomplish while having children in my life."
But following her struggles with postpartum depression and addiction, she made the painful decision in 2018 to sign over primary custody of her daughter to her ex-fiancé.
During this time, she stepped back to focus on her recovery while battling severe postpartum depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and substance abuse.
Tributes to the star pour in
Her final post is now full of tributes, with one social media user writing: "This one hurts BAD. Just watched Bring It On with my daughter the other night and told her how iconic Hayden was… she was obsessed… RIP Sweet Girl."
A second read: "I’m so sorry Hayden. My thoughts are with your daughter and obviously those who loved you. Xoxo."
"Oh Hayden. was just watching a podcast where you shared your past and truth last month," a third comment read. "Rest in peace angel [white heart emoji]."
A timeline of Hayden Panettiere’s troubled Hollywood career
August 1989
Hayden Panettiere is born to firefighter Skip Panettiere and Lesley Vogel, who would go on to be Hayden’s manager.
1990
Panettiere appears in a commercial at 11 months old, later landing recurring roles in soap operas as a child actor.
2004/2005
Aged 15, Panettiere said someone on her team started offering her ‘happy pills’. She later tells People: “They were to make me peppy during interviews.
"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.”
2006
Aged 17, Panettiere lands one of the defining roles of her career as Claire Bennett in Heroes.
2007-2009
Panettiere later reveals several disturbing incidents that happened during this period in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.
Aged 18, she claims she was led onto a yacht by ‘somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector’ and placed into bed next to an ‘undressed man who was very famous’.
In 2008, she alleged a network executive kissed her on the lips at a party.
Aged 19, she said a ‘well-respected, award-winning actor’ tricked her into looking at his testicles through an unzipped fly.
In 2007, she also starts dating Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia - she is 18 and he is 30. They split in 2009.
2009
Panettiere starts dating Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
Meanwhile, her father Skip is handed two years of informal probation after pleading ‘no contest’ to spousal battery.
2013
Panettiere and Klitschko get engaged.
December 2014
Panettiere and Klitschko’s daughter Kaya is born. Panettiere endures an incredibly difficult pregnancy, hemorrhaging during her c-section and being forced to undergo a three-hour surgery.
2015
Panettiere begins suffering severe post-partum depression. She later tells Jay Shetty on his On Purpose podcast: “I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. I wasn't connecting with [Kaya] the way I should be.”
She uses alcohol to manage her mental health struggles and enters treatment when Kaya is four months old.
She later says she became dependent on medication to sleep, and then turned to drinking vodka.
2018
Klitschko presents Panettiere with custody papers asking for full custody of Kaya. After initially fighting back, she eventually accepts and Kaya goes to live with Klitschko in Ukraine.
She writes in her memoir: “Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life”
Meanwhile, her long-running role in TV show Nashville comes to an end and she doesn’t have any more TV or film roles for five years.
In the same year, she starts dating actor Brian Hickerson.
2020
Panettiere spends an eight month stint in rehab.
She experiences brutal alcohol withdrawal symptoms including insomnia and intense headaches.
Meanwhile, her now-ex Hickerson is charged with felony assault.
2021
Hickerson pleads no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse/cohabitant/girlfriend/child's parent and is sentenced to 45 days in jail and four years probation.
2023
Panettiere returns to acting, reprising her role as Kirby Reed in Scream VI.
In the same year, her brother Jansen dies aged 28 from an enlarged heart.
May 2026
Panettiere releases her memoir in which she makes disturbing allegations against film stars and industry execs from when she was a teenager.
She also opens up on her experience of postpartum depression and comes out as bisexual.
August 2026
Panettiere tragically dies. Police say: “The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
Mia Williams