The world held its breath when Hayden Panettiere went back to her boyfriend Brian Hickerson
just two weeks after he was arrested for domestic assault. The police had been called to their home
and found the actress frantic and covered in red marks. Friends voiced their concern to Hayden,
but there was nothing that they could do. She loved him and he never really wanted to hurt her.
She was trying to convince herself that it was all just a misunderstanding.
Sadly, it was not going to be the last time Brian violently put his hands on her and soon, Hayden
would be fighting the type of battle she never thought she'd have to face. A fight for her life.
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It's never easy watching the down spiral of a Hollywood starlet, especially when fans have
watched her grow up on their screens. When news broke out that Hayden Panettiere was seeking help
for her struggle with alcohol abuse, fans were heartbroken. Just ten years ago, the actress
was at the top of her career, and now it all seems like her world is crumbling around her.
You probably think that you can't remember the last time you saw her on-screen,
and the fact is that Hayden hasn't worked as an actress for the last
three years. Everything that was happening behind closed doors had become so overwhelming
for her that she had to take a step back from the spotlight to try and get her life back on track.
Fans first became concerned about Hayden when she announced that she was battling
severe postpartum depression after giving birth to her daughter, Kaya, in
2014. At the time, the actress was starring in the show Nashville as the beloved Juliette Barnes.
The series was a hit and her first real comeback to TV since her breakout role
in Heroes. Her career was finally gaining traction again with the success of Nashville,
so when she announced that she was taking a break from filming to book herself into
a facility for her depression, admirers were worried she wouldn't be returning to the show.
While Panettiere had been working as an actress since she was a young girl,
it wasn't until her role as Claire Bennet in Heroes that she started to get the world's
attention. The ratings for the show's first season skyrocketed, and the world was hooked instantly.
Unfortunately, as more seasons were released, the ratings plummeted as the storyline seemed
to get a little too warped and fans thought the writers had no idea where the story was going.
After just four seasons, the show was cancelled due to its lack of popularity.
Nevertheless, Hayden came out as the star of the show and after that made her way
into the world of film. However, she faced one problem. She was being typecast. Rather
than having a wide range of characters in her films, the actress was repeatedly cast
as a young preppy teenager or cheerleader, and she was starting to feel frustrated.
"I think I've always been categorized, and sometimes typecast, because I'm blonde,
and people look at me as either the popular cheerleader type or just the blonde,
and you don't play villains when you're blonde, unless you're Sharon Stone"
In order to try and break out of the typecasting box, Hayden took on the role of Amanda Knox in the
true crime film Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy. The story about an American student
who was accused of the murder of her roommate in Italy. However, the film was received with
a mountain of backlash and controversy. Amanda Knox herself, along with the other real-life
people that had been mentioned in the film even petitioned to have the movie pulled from screens.
By the time the film was released, nobody even acknowledged Hayden's performance,
even though she had done an amazing job with the demanding role.
Despite all the controversy, the actress has no regrets about starring in the film.
"Sorry for playing the part of Amanda Knox? Absolutely not. As an actress,
I played a part that was difficult and intense: guilt or innocence. I'd do it all over again."
The Producers of Nashville even admitted that Panettiere had not been their first choice to play
Juiliette’s character, because they had concerns that the actress wasn’t vulnerable enough.
Little did they know that Hayden had a lot more in common with her
character on Nashville than anyone could have imagined.
As things started to get a little rocky with her career, her personal life was facing challenges
too. She got engaged to her on-and-off-again boyfriend, boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2013
and soon gave birth to their daughter. However, less than a year after welcoming their beautiful
bundle of joy, the actress booked herself into a treatment facility for postpartum depression.
"When you're told about postpartum depression, you think it's 'I feel negative feelings
towards my child, I want to injure or hurt my child.' I've never, ever had those feelings.
Some women do. Women need to know that they're not alone and that it does heal."
Sadly, Hayden's struggle with depression continued,
and she returned to the treatment facility again in 2016. "The postpartum
depression I have been experiencing has impacted every aspect of my life."
It seemed that the actress had a lot to juggle on her plate; along with the popularity of Nashville,
her ongoing depression and being a new mom, the seams of her relationship were starting to come
apart. The couple announced their split and called off their engagement, and it was agreed
that Kaya would be living with her father in Ukraine, 6000 miles away from her mother.
"She knows the child being with her is not best for [Kaya right now].
It's a sad situation." a close friend revealed.
Hayden opened up about co-parenting her daughter with her ex,
insisting that their relationship is still "respectful", but also admitted the situation is
"challenging" with her having to travel back and forth to Europe.
When she was first spotted with her new boyfriend Brian Hickerson, fans thought
that the actress was finally in a better place. Sadly, they could not have been more wrong.
After his first arrest for domestic assault against Hayden,
Brian was arrested once again just a few weeks later.
This time, he had hit her several times in the face with a closed fist. In court,
the actress's lawyer said that she had been hit so hard she was dizzy and couldn't stand up properly.
Close friends said that the couple were reckless together and Hayden wasn't
herself. They were often spotted out drinking at bars until they were completely intoxicated
and once the actress was even seen walking the streets shoeless and throwing up in the street.
Hickerson was charged with domestic violence, while a judge granted a protective order stating
that he could not come within 100 yards of Panettiere. The pair had officially split,
so officially that it had to be ordered by a judge. Unfortunately, while her bruises were
able to fade, the emotional pain and heartache remained as Hayden was left alone once again.
Not only did Hickerson leave her with a broken heart, he also left her with a festering addiction
to alcohol that only worsened as the media published all the details of their split.
She felt ashamed for having continuously returned
to a man who had been physically and emotionally abusing her for so long.
She decided to come forward with her story, just as she had about her depression.
She wanted to speak up about the abuse she had endured so that she could give women
all over the world the hope they needed if they were experiencing the same thing.
"I am coming forward with the truth about what happened to me with the hope that my story will
empower others in abusive relationships to get the help they need and deserve."
Since then, the actress has been on a journey of healing,
making more of an effort with her daughter and focusing on her sobriety. Since splitting
with Hickerson, Panettiere had to come to terms with the fact that she had become an alcoholic,
leaning on binge drinking in order to cope with the emotional stress that the
relationship had caused. Fans want nothing but the best for the actress and hope that
she's able to heal her heart and the wounds that she's had to nurse for all these years.