Panettiere Memorial to Exclude Mother and Ex-Boyfriend

Hayden Panettiere will be honored Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, at a Malibu church overlooking the water, with about 150 guests expected. Skip Panettiere is expected to attend with close friends and Hollywood power players. The site was chosen for her love of the ocean and whales. Panettiere, 36, was found unresponsive Aug. 16 at a Greenville, South Carolina Airbnb and pronounced dead. Brian Hickerson reportedly administered Narcan before EMTs arrived. An autopsy showed no trauma; the official cause of death is undetermined. Reports say mother Lesley Vogel, Brian Hickerson and Zach Hickerson were not invited; some accounts call attendance status unclear. Vogel said she and Hayden were estranged because of Hickerson. "She knew that Brian was toxic. She knew she had to get him out of her life," Vogel said. After six weeks with Hayden she left; a later call that Hayden was returning to him made her "lose it." She said a toxic individual she believes led to Hayden’s death drove the estrangement. Panettiere’s memoir quoted Vogel saying "You owe me!" Hickerson told a photographer, "How do you think I'm doing?" Reports of a black-market oxycodone pill potentially laced with fentanyl remain unconfirmed.