Hayden Panettiere’s emotional final appearance saw star ‘struggle’ with speech

Hayden Panettiere appeared emotional and was reported to have struggled with her speech during what became her final public appearance – a Los Angeles book event less than three months before her sudden death at 36.

The Heroes and Nashville star appeared at the Harmony Gold Theater on May 26 to discuss and sign copies of her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, which had been published a week earlier.

Hayden was found unresponsive at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday, August 16, and pronounced dead after emergency crews attempted to resuscitate her.

An autopsy has since found no trauma contributing to her death, while the cause and manner remain undetermined pending further investigation.

A source who attended the May event has now told Page Six: “Her speech appeared slow and slurred at times during the book signing.”

The attendee said Hayden also became visibly emotional while discussing some of the experiences detailed in her memoir, which covered her childhood in Hollywood, addiction, postpartum depression, abusive relationships and the death of her younger brother Jansen Panettiere, who died aged 28 in 2023.

According to Page Six’s source, organisers repeatedly told the audience not to record the event and subsequently prohibited photographs and videos as attendees approached Hayden during the signing.

The insider recalled when one attendee attempted to record Hayden, an organiser used a megaphone and said: “Don’t be rude.”

A second source told Page Six: “Earlier this year, she did seem a little tired at times. But she was a night owl and… she has a lot on her plate.

“Hayden also suffered from anxiety at times, and I know she would occasionally take medication for that. And every so often that could impact her speech.”

Hayden also spoke during the event about why she had decided to make intensely personal experiences public, saying that people had previously approached her and told her that hearing her discuss mental health had encouraged them to seek help.

She said: “I can hopefully leave the world a better place than I found it.”

Hayden also described experiencing an identity crisis as a child after spending much of her early life working in front of cameras.

She said: “I had my first identity crisis. I remember exactly where I was, standing in my bedroom at 12 years old.”