Christy Carlson Romano Slams Dark Side of Child Stardom After Hayden Panettiere's Death: 'Early Fame Is Like CTE'

Christy Carlson Romano addressed the dark reality of being a child star after Hayden Panettiere's shocking death.

The former child star wrote an essay for Elle, published on Tuesday, August 18, in which she highlighted the ruthless trauma that being thrust into the spotlight early in childhood can cause.

“Early fame is like CTE,” she wrote.

“Not as a diagnosis. As a way of thinking about repeated impact,” she added.

Per the 42-year-old, the continuous scrutiny child artists often have to go through is comparable to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition that can develop in athletes who play high-impact sports and are prone to repeated head injuries.

“The former child actor exists in a category the world does not know how to hold. We are children when the public wants to feel protective of us, professionals when the industry wants to profit from us, and spoiled celebrities when we eventually show symptoms of having been both,” she stated.

“We now have language for youth sports: protocols, helmets, parents worried about concussions. But we have almost no language for what happens when stress, scrutiny, rejection, adult pressure, and the collapse of privacy become the architecture of a childhood,” she explained.

She also talked about how while child artists are often deemed “lucky” or “cute” or “talented,” their “labor powers one of the most profitable storytelling machines in the world, while their mental needs are treated as inconvenient or irrelevant.”

The actress, who gained recognition at the age of 6 due to her spectacular performance in the theater scene, also alleged that the industry treats child artists in a particularly ruthless manner.

She explained that if a child star fails to “climb to A-list [status] fast enough, we’re torn down as if we’ve committed some unspeakable mortal sin.”

Referring to Panettiere's untimely demise, she said, “[I’m] crushed. Another performer I grew up with, gone too soon.”

Panettiere's “unresponsive” body was discovered in an apartment block in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday, August 16, when authorities responded to the scene after receiving distress calls from one of her acquaintances.

The local coroner's office completed an autopsy and released a detailed report on Monday, August 17, per Us Weekly.

“On August 16, 2026, at approximately 1:51 p.m., a 911 call was received regarding a reported cardiac arrest,” the statement read.

“First responders and Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and located a female in cardiac arrest. EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 p.m.,” the report continued.

The coroner's report also pointed out that “at autopsy, no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.”