Hayden Panettiere’s Relationship With Brian Hickerson Was ‘Bad for Business’ So They Hid It

Hayden Panettiere and on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson may have been closer than people think before the actress was found dead on Sunday, August 16, at age 36.

A source close to Hickerson told TMZ on Monday, August 17, that he and the Nashville alum were together while she was promoting her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, which was released in May.

However, according to the source, Panettiere was advised by her team to distance herself from him because he was “bad for business” while she was doing press for the book.

A separate TMZ source close to Hickerson — with whom she’s had a toxic, on-off relationship with since 2018 — claimed they’ve been together consistently for years and were seen together multiple times in the last year in both L.A. and South Carolina.

According to the outlet, Panettiere allegedly became so close with Hickerson she was considered part of his family in recent years.

During an interview with TMZ in May, Hickerson acknowledged the domestic violence incidents between them, saying everyone should read Panettiere’s memoir. In it, she recounted Hickerson’s alleged abusive behavior.

As Star previously reported, the Heroes actress was pronounced dead after Greenville, South Carolina, officials responded to a 911 call on Sunday.

The Greenville Police Department is investigating Panettiere’s cause of death, and a police spokesperson told People that a preliminary investigation had “not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”

Sources in Greenville told TMZ that Narcan — a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — was found in the apartment where she died. In dispatch audio obtained by People, officials were heard discussing an “overdose.”

Panettiere’s father, Skip, released a statement confirming her death shortly after the news broke.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” he said in a statement to ABC News on Sunday. “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.”

The late actress is survived by her daughter, Kaya, 11, whom she shared with ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.