HAYDEN Panettiere spoke candidly about the “brutal” reality of living through an abusive relationship just months before news broke that the actress had died aged 36.

Panettiere had described the pull of a complicated on-off relationship with Brian Hickerson, saying: “Getting an abusive person out of your life is like trying to rip a weed out that is so entangled into your life.” She added that each time you think you’ve ended it, “another weed pops back up”.

The pair’s relationship began after Panettiere split from former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko, who she started dating in 2009. They briefly broke up in 2011, got engaged two years later and welcomed daughter Kaya in December 2014.

Panettiere and Hickerson were first linked in 2018, with sources saying they’d been together for “a couple of months” and were spotted holding hands in West Hollywood. Around the same period, police in South Carolina responded to a call about a “domestic assault in progress” involving Hickerson and his father; an incident report said Panettiere appeared frantic and intoxicated, while Hickerson denied assault and his father said injuries were caused by a fall.

Months later, Hickerson was arrested for domestic violence after an alleged incident involving Panettiere. He was charged with felony domestic violence and ordered to stay away from her and not contact her, including being barred from coming within 100 yards.

In February 2020, Hickerson was arrested again in Wyoming after an alleged dispute in which police said he struck Panettiere with a closed fist. Later that year, he pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend; other counts were dismissed. He served 33 days in prison, was placed on four years’ probation and was fined $500.

In May 2026, Panettiere said she was including details of the abuse in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, calling the process “traumatic” but important if it helped others feel less alone. News later broke in August 2026 that she had died; TMZ reported she travelled from Los Angeles to the south with Hickerson one day before her death.