Hayden Panettiere Net Worth And Family All On Parents Ex Partner Daughter And Struggles With Postpartum Depression

Hayden Panettiere has died at the age of 36, her representative confirmed to ABC News.

"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," her rep said in a statement.

Panettiere was born in Palisades, New York. While her mother, Lesley Vogel, was a former soap opera actress, her father, Skip Panettiere, worked as a fire department lieutenant. In 2023, Panettiere’s younger brother Jansen died unexpectedly of a heart condition at 28.

Panettiere leaves behind her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, who was born in December 2014 in Hawaii. She shares her daughter with Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian former heavyweight boxing champion.

Panettiere announced her engagement to Klitschko in October 2013, and Kaya was born following her. However, in August 2018, Panettiere's mother confirmed Panettiere and Klitschko had broken up again but remained on friendly terms.

The same year, Panettiere relinquished full custody of Kaya to Wladimir Klitschko amid her struggles with addiction and postpartum depression. She described the decision as a "living nightmare" and "heartbreaking.”

As of May 2026, Panettiere maintained a good, co-parenting relationship with Klitschko. She frequently visits her daughter in Ukraine.

She opened up about struggling with postpartum depression in her memoir, recalling that when she met her newborn daughter following a grueling labor and emergency surgery, she "felt nothing.”

"I wasn't OK," Panettiere wrote in This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was released May 19. "I had to figure out how to bond with her. It felt like an insurmountable task, and I was only on the first day."

She explained that she did not have what felt like postpartum anxiety, but a void of emotions altogether.

"It wasn't panic that was sitting in my chest. It was nothing. A total blackout of emotion, like my soul was dead," she wrote.

Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More