Hayden Panettiere Memorial: Why Her Mom and Brian Hickerson Weren’t Invited
About 150 people are expected at a private celebration of life in Malibu on Saturday. Her estranged mother and the boyfriend who was with her when she died aren't on the list.
- Hayden Panettiere’s family is holding a private celebration of life at a church in Malibu on Saturday, Sept. 19, with about 150 guests expected.
- Her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, her on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach, were not invited, TMZ reported. Her father, Skip Panettiere, is expected to attend.
- Panettiere died Aug. 16 in Greenville, S.C., at 36. Her cause and manner of death are still pending.
A goodbye, on the family’s terms. Friends, relatives and former colleagues of Hayden Panettiere are gathering on Saturday, Sept. 19, for a private celebration of life at a church in Malibu, Calif.
About 150 people are expected. Three names are missing from the list, according to TMZ: her mother, Lesley Vogel; her on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson; and his brother, Zach Hickerson.
Her father, Skip Panettiere, is expected to attend. Malibu was chosen for her love of the ocean and of whales, a cause she campaigned for publicly for years.
Why weren’t Hayden Panettiere’s mom and Brian Hickerson invited?
The family hasn’t given a reason publicly. What’s on the record explains the distance with both.
Vogel and her daughter were estranged in the last months of Panettiere’s life. Vogel has said that about a year before the death, she went to stay with her daughter because she was worried about Hickerson.
On the advice of her therapist, Vogel said, she then told her daughter she would not be in her life as long as Hickerson was. That was the break.
She knew that Brian was toxic, and she knew she had to get him out of her life.
— Lesley Vogel, to ABC News
Panettiere had her own account. Vogel was also her manager when she was a child actor, and Panettiere had publicly accused her mother of pushing her to work to pay for the family’s lifestyle. Her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, came out in May.
What happened with Brian Hickerson?
Hickerson, who dated Panettiere on and off since 2018, was with her in the Greenville rental on Aug. 16 when she was found unresponsive. His brother was there, too.
In 2021, Hickerson pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injury to a spouse or girlfriend. The victim was Panettiere.
He has not been charged in connection with her death, and police have not named him a suspect. His attorney said in a statement that “it’s important to allow [the] investigation to proceed. As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play.”
Sources close to the brothers say they understand why they weren’t invited and aren’t contesting it, according to Hola! USA.
How did Hayden Panettiere die?
Officially, that’s still open. She was found in cardiac arrest at a home in Greenville, S.C., on the afternoon of Aug. 16 and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was 36.
The Greenville County coroner’s office said the cause and manner of death “remain pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies.” Greenville police are leading the case, with the Drug Enforcement Administration assisting.
A pending ruling is routine when lab results are outstanding. Coroners typically wait on those tests before they rule, and in the U.S. that can take weeks or months. TMZ has reported that investigators believe she took black-market oxycodone laced with fentanyl. Authorities have not confirmed that.
Who was Hayden Panettiere?
A working actor since she was a baby. She played cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC’s Heroes and country singer Juliette Barnes on ABC’s Nashville, which earned her two Golden Globe nominations.
She had a daughter, Kaya, now 11, with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko. Kaya has lived with her father since 2018.
For more on her life and career, see Hayden Panettiere’s page. The music world lost ‘Barely Breathing’ singer Duncan Sheik this week, and Frankie Muniz, another former child star, opened up about his lowest point. More in our Celebrities section.
— Bruno Monteiro
Sources: TMZ (celebration of life guest list, Sept. 18, 2026, and investigation report); Hola! USA (Jovita Trujillo); Lesley Vogel to ABC News and Good Morning America (Shafiq Najib, Aug. 24, 2026); Greenville County Coroner’s Office; Greenville City Police Department; statement from Brian Hickerson’s attorney; This Is Me: A Reckoning (2026). Photos: frames from ABC News Live Prime, Good Morning America (ABC News) and The View (ABC).
Reported from ABC News on Youtube.
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