A month before the tragic departure of Hayden Panettiere, close friends, family and colleagues from the entertainment world gathered on Saturday in Malibu, California, to pay tribute to the remembered actress, who passed away on August 16 at the age of 36.
The commemorative ceremony, held in a church in the coastal town, was marked by moments of deep emotion. Before starting the service, the attendees witnessed the release of pigeons outside the temple, a symbolic gesture that gave way to a day dedicated to memory and affection for the artist.
Among the people who attended were Connie Britton, Ruby Rose, Charles Esten, Evan Ross and Paris Hilton, according to TMZ reports.
During the act, Britton and Esten—who shared part with Panettiere in the series “Nashville”—offered meaningful farewell speeches. In a touching tribute, Esten performed one of the songs that the actress popularized during her role as Juliette Barnes in the television production.
The meeting was attended by the singer’s father, Alan “Skip” Panettiere, who few weeks ago had publicly expressed the pain of the family through a statement where he highlighted the talent, affection and joy that her daughter brought to her environment and to her audience. On the contrary, his mother, Lesley Vogel, his intermittent partner Brian Hickerson and his brother were not invited to the event.
The tribute covers an even darker nuance in recalling that Panettiere had already gone through a tough personal blow after the loss of her younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, who died in 2023 from undiagnosed heart complications, a fact that the actress herself described at the time as the loss of a part of her soul.
Currently, the exact circumstances surrounding the death of the actress are still under investigation by South Carolina authorities. Although the preliminary autopsy ruled out signs of trauma after being found in a cardiac arrest, representatives of the artist confirmed that the investigation remains open in anticipation of definitive answers.
Panettiere left an 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, born from her relationship with former boxer Wladimir Klitschko.
