Hayden Panettiere Finds Love After Rehab And Divorce

Hayden Panettiere found herself in the summer of 2018 as a newly single woman who had just left rehab and was desperate for a fresh start. Her ex-fiancé, Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, secured full custody of their three-year-old daughter Kaya that same year because her postnatal depression and alcoholism made motherhood an impossible struggle at the time. Her brother Jansen, who is five years younger than she is, suggested they go out in West Hollywood to have a good time instead. That meeting happened inside The Abbey, a wildly popular gay bar where Panettiere met Brian Hickerson, a man who would change the course of her life forever. Hickerson, an aspiring actor and real estate agent from South Carolina, swept her off her feet with lightning speed according to her memoir published in May. Within weeks they were living together at her Los Angeles home dancing in the living room redecorating playing board games and watching practically every Netflix series ever made. She wrote that she finally began to feel beautiful again praising his smile and sense of humor while also starting to feel safe loved and cherished. It felt like Brian and I were two best friends living together under one roof yet for all its blissful beginnings the relationship was ultimately violent and tempestuous. Photos show them together in December 2018 within months of beginning their relationship but she was found dead on Sunday in his home state of South Carolina. Hickerson was arrested in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2020 after facing charges for domestic violence incidents dating back to 2019 where the final incident saw him sentenced to forty-five days in jail. The troubles did not end there as in May 2022 the pair had a wild fight inside the bar of the Sunset Marquis hotel in LA and Hickerson was photographed being restrained by a bystander seemingly missing a shoe. Panettiere was reportedly overheard yelling Brian jail which served as a reminder that he was still on probation before they split seemingly for good in July 2022. She recalled excruciating detail about the beatings in her memoir while he owned his past behavior upon publication calling the book an essential read. Then they appeared to reconcile and on Saturday Panettiere and Hickerson flew from LA to South Carolina. On Sunday she was found dead at an apartment in Greenville after an unidentified acquaintance called 911 to report a potential overdose according to audio of the call obtained by People. The Greenville County Coroner's Office has completed the star's autopsy with the coroner telling Page Six that no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death. The cause and exact manner of her death remain under investigation while it is not known whether he was in the apartment at the time. Hickerson approached by the Daily Mail has yet to comment on how the pair resumed their relationship or indeed whether it was romantic or just friendship perhaps the airing of all the dirty laundry in horrific detail had allowed them to move on. The book certainly paints an uncomfortable picture and it remains unclear exactly when the abuse began between the summer of 2018 and spring 2019 since Panettiere does not give a date. Instead she describes a horrific scene where after a bottle of wine each and several vodkas their evening becomes hellish before saying something she regrets. A chair scrapes against the floor and Brian stands up all six feet of him leaning toward her face to scream What is wrong with you? She flinched while he kept screaming leading to a terrifying tussle with a paring knife before a wine glass crashed to the floor and Hickerson hit her for the first time. I hear it before I feel it she wrote describing the moment impact turned into pain.

The unmistakable sound of an open-hand slap. Then there's burning on my cheek, like I'm on fire. There's ringing in my head. There's silence."

These are Hayden Panettiere's words describing a violent encounter with her then-boyfriend Brian Hickerson. The two were officially registered as living together in this Los Angeles building at the time.

Panettiere appeared in New York City for one of her last public outings in June 2026 to promote her memoir, where she finally spoke out about the abuse. Nothing was ever said about that first slap initially. But soon after, she wrote, the slaps escalated into punches. She admitted she punched him too, joking with gallows humor that time spent watching boxing matches with her ex came in handy for self-defense.

"One night he busts up my face so badly I don't leave the house for weeks," she wrote in the book. "Another day he screams at me to run as far as I can in five seconds because I'll need a head start before he throws the remote control at me. This is a man who doesn't miss, I think."

"And he doesn't. The remote control hits my face like it's been thrown by a minor league pitcher." She fought back: "All that boxing I watched paid off," she wrote. But she admitted she was no match for him physically.

"Punches rain down, hard," she wrote of an incident in May 2019. "My head hits the wall, and he's straddling me, pinning me down using all his weight."

"Why did you hit yourself?" he screams as I struggle under him. "You're all bruised, why did you do that to yourself?" Terrified, she escapes and runs to the car - where she keeps a bottle of water in the glove compartment 'for times like this.' Neighbors called 911 and Hickerson was charged with domestic assault, but he pleaded not guilty.

Panettiere and Hickerson are seen in happier times in a photo he shared on Instagram before turning his social media dark. They were pictured together in January 2019 while living in Los Angeles. He argued that she was the one hitting herself - not him - claiming he had recorded himself saying: "Why did you hit yourself?" as she fully lost control.

He was initially ordered to stay 100 yards away from her, but Panettiere accepted his apologies - he claimed to have no memory of the fight - and the charges were dropped in September 2019. In November 2019, a Hickerson family source told Us Weekly that his family were troubled by their relationship.

"Brian's family is extremely concerned for his safety when he is with Hayden," the source said. "They are terrified that Brian will once again find himself accused of domestic violence. Hayden and Brian are very toxic for each other." And so it proved.

Hayden Panettiere was seen with bruises on her arms in 2022 after a scuffle outside a hotel involving Hickerson. The following year, in February 2020, the pair traveled to Jackson, Wyoming, for Valentine's Day. After another night of drinking, she wrote that once more their "playful banter" turned toxic, and she claimed Hickerson pushed her up against a wall.

"I felt my head snap back and smash into the wall, and a sharp pain shot down into my back. I braced my body to absorb the shock, then I closed my eyes." Clap.

Brian slapped me hard, and a familiar sting radiated out from my cheek and across my entire body." This was not the first time neighbors called police for help. Hickerson faced another arrest shortly after that call. In the days immediately following their fight, she decided to end the relationship and leave the toxic waste dump they had found themselves swimming in. A Wyoming police report from that time noted a fresh scrape and swelling on the top of her left hand which she believed came from Hickerson's watch during the altercation. She tried once more to stay away from him. In her memoir, she wrote, "I knew that if Brian laid his hands on me one more time, and I caught him off guard, I might kill him in self-defense… that was a chance I just couldn't take."

In July of that year she obtained a restraining order against him. On July 17, 2020, she wrote that she hoped others would be inspired by her to walk away from abusive partners. "I am coming forward with the truth about what happened to me with the hope that my story will empower others in abusive relationships to get the help they need and deserve," she posted on Instagram. She also stated, "I am prepared to do my part to make sure this man never hurts anyone again." She thanked her support system for helping her find the courage to regain her voice and her life. Panettiere wrote in her memoir years later that she still loved Hickerson and who he was when he was not raging.

Hickerson was charged in July 2020 with four domestic assault felonies, one misdemeanor count of battery, two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one felony count of dissuading a witness from prosecuting a crime. The charges covered the period from May 2019 to July 2020. Panettiere, a child star, is pictured in September 2012. In April 2021 he accepted a plea deal, pleading no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend. The remaining six counts were dismissed. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and four years' probation, plus $500 in fines and mandatory domestic violence classes. In May 2021 he surrendered to serve his sentence, spending 19 days behind bars. Panettiere insisted she only wanted him to be in jail long enough to get scared. "I didn't want to traumatize him in an irreversible way," she wrote. "So I decided to do what I wish others would do for me." She added that she chose to let go of her resentment and try to forgive Brian.

Yet time behind bars did not have the desired effect, and soon they were back to their old ways. By May 2022 they were evidently back together, drinking at the Sunset Marquis when yet another violent altercation ensued. Panettiere warned Hickerson that he was still on probation during this incident. She separated from him once more in July 2022. Hickerson, in May this year when the book was published, heaped praise on her and said her account was true. He even told TMZ he still hoped to marry her. "I hope so, [but] she probably doesn't think the same way," the 37-year-old said. "I think Hayden is one of most talented people I've ever met in my life, and I would be an idiot not to walk away from her and let her flourish in her career."

Panettiere, asked by TMZ about his wish to marry her, laughed as she walked through an airport and replied: "I don't think that's going to happen." Yet Hickerson was effusive in his praise of her memoir. "Hayden's book's incredible. I think it's great," he said. He insisted everyone should read it, specifically the parts about domestic violence and his own chapter. He added that one had to be vulnerable, noting that he did it too and took responsibility for his actions.