NEWSHayden Panettiere’s Friends Had No Idea Ex Brian Hickerson Came Back Into Her Life
Hayden Panettiere’s friends were left in the dark about Brian Hickerson reunion.
Aug. 20 2026, Published 3:20 a.m. ET
Hayden Panettiere’s reported reunion with Brian Hickerson appears to have been something she kept largely private from the people closest to her.
The Nashville star, who died Sunday, August 16, at 36, in Greenville, South Carolina, had apparently reconnected with Hickerson in the months before her death. But according to a source who spoke with Page Six, several of Panettiere’s friends had no idea he was back in her life.
Hayden Panettiere Kept Brian Hickerson Reunion Private From Friends
Hayden Panettiere wasn’t speaking about her reunion with Brian Hickerson with many friends, source claimed
“If Brian was back in her life, then it was something she was hiding because she wasn’t speaking about it with many of her friends,” the insider said.
The source suggested that the Heroes actress may have felt embarrassed about reconnecting with someone whose relationship with her had previously been so troubled.
“If you’ve gone through some dark times with people, and spoken about it, then there can be shame if you get back together with that same person,” the source explained, adding, “So maybe that was why she hadn’t mentioned it to us.”
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Hayden Panettiere and Brian Hickerson were seen together months before her death.
Panettiere and Hickerson first became romantically linked in 2018. Their relationship later became marked by multiple domestic violence allegations. Hickerson was arrested in 2019 following an alleged altercation with the former child star, and he was arrested again in Wyoming in February 2020 after an alleged domestic dispute.
Court documents obtained by TMZ reportedly showed a series of alleged text messages he sent to Panettiere despite an order prohibiting contact.
One alleged message read: “Time to go to war I guess.”
In another, Hickerson allegedly wrote, “After Wyoming and LA disappears so do the videos.”
Brian Hickerson’s alleged threatening texts to Hayden Panettiere resurface.
He also allegedly told her, “Even if I sit in a jail cell for ten years. All of the stuff that is vaulted overseas with my people will come out the second I step foot into prison.”
According to the documents reported by TMZ, Hickerson appeared to pressure Panettiere over the criminal case, allegedly writing, “It is very simple, it is a very simple fix, between me and you, you gotta make one phone call.”
“I don’t want to go to court, for you,” another alleged message stated. “I will be f------ fine in court, trust me, it’s for you.”
Despite that history, the pair was photographed together again in the years that followed, including in 2023.
