Hilary Duff shared an emotional tribute to Hayden Panettiere Tuesday, two days after the late actress’ tragic death.
The former Disney star, 38, reminisced about their friendship and bond as fellow child stars in the early 2000s, while acknowledging they’d lost touch.
“Sweet Hayden. Really tough hearing this news,” Duff wrote on Instagram. “We lost touch through the years but I will always remember you as so hardworking and effervescent, with that big, gorgeous smile.”
“I remember staying up late, chatting and gossiping, and connecting because we were part of such a small sliver of people who actually understood the strange lot in life we were navigating.. so young, with no real idea how to make sense of any of it,” she continued.
“I so deeply wish this wasn’t the end for you. Sending a heart full of love to your family, the many people you impacted and everyone who loved you,” Duff concluded her post, adding, “rest easy.”
Though Duff and Panettiere didn’t star in any projects together, they were photographed multiple times together at events over the years.
Both got their start in the Hollywood industry young. Duff rose to fame playing the title character of the Disney Channel’s beloved hit “Lizzie McGuire,” which began airing in 2001 when she was 13 years old. Meanwhile, Panettiere was just 10 years old when she filmed her breakthrough role as Sheryl Yoast in 2000’s “Remember the Titans,” produced by Walt Disney Pictures.
Tributes have been pouring in for Panettiere, who died Sunday after an “overdose” in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, according to the 911 dispatch audio obtained by Page Six.
Paramedics responded to a call about an “unidentified female” in “cardiac arrest” on Sunday and, within minutes, “CPR [was] in progress” for the “overdose.”
Emergency responders attempted to resuscitate her at the apartment complex with “advanced cardiac life support” and chest compressions, but she was pronounced dead at 2:32 p.m. local time.
Panettiere was 36 years old.
Her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, broke her silence on her daughter’s death Tuesday and referenced her child star past.
“I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path,” Vogel told NBC News.
The “Nashville” alum’s father, Skip Panettiere, previously shared in a statement to Page Six, “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.”
“We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss,” he added.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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