Heartbroken Selma Blair leads Hollywood tributes after Hayden Panettiere's shock death at 36: 'Don't be gone. Please'

Selma Blair sounded as if she was in shock as she reacted to the news of her friend Hayden Panettiere's unexpected death on Sunday night.Blair, 54, was one of the first stars to pay tribute to the late Nashville star when she commented on her final Instagram post shortly after Panettiere was revealed to have died over the weekend at just 36.'I love you. Don't be gone. Don't be gone. Please. Please,' an anguished Blair wrote under a photo Panettiere had shared on July 27, which ended up being her final Instagram post before her death.'I love you whale tail my friend,' Blair wrote in another comment 11 minutes later.Blair returned minutes later with another sorrowful comment.'I'm dying. Please be here,' she wrote under Panettiere's photo. The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Blair and Panettiere to request comment but has not yet received a response. Following reports of Hayden Panettiere's unexpected death at 36 over the weekend, stars flocked to pay tribute to the late Heroes star; Panettiere is pictured on May 19 in NYC Selma Blair, 54, sounded as if she was in shock as she posted an anguished comment on Panettiere's final Instagram post from July 27; Blair is pictured in November 2025 in LA 'I love you. Don't be gone. Don't be gone. Please. Please,' an anguished Blair wrote under a photo Panettiere had shared on July 27. 'I love you whale tail my friend,' Blair wrote in another comment 11 minutes laterThe Legally Blonde actress had previously shared kind words after the Heroes star's brother, Jansen Panettiere, died in 2023. On an Instagram post dated to December 2022 on Jansen's page, Blair had written, 'Fly with the angels.'Panettiere's brother died two months after his post in February 2023. His unexpected death was later determined to be due to cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart, while aortic valve complications also played a role.Representatives for the former child star announced on Sunday: 'It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. '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.' Panettiere's final Instagram post featured a jubilant black-and-white photo of the actress playfully sticking her tongue out for the camera while she was embraced by her friend, the director and podcaster Randall Slavin.Slavin reposted the photo in his Instagram Stories on Sunday night as he paid tribute to his fallen friend.'Peace be with you, H,' he wrote while adding an animated red heart. Panettiere's cause of death was not immediately clear, but enforcement sources have confirmed to TMZ that police responded to an incident involving the actress and an investigation is ongoing. Panettiere's tragic death at 36 over the weekend was announced on Sunday night. She is pictured here at a gala in Hollywood in 2022 The tragic news comes just months after her memoir, This is Me, became a New York Times bestseller Panettiere is remembered for her roles as Claire Bennet on the hit NBC series HeroesSources also told the outlet that Panettiere had been recently complaining of back pain and that she and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, flew from Los Angeles to the south just one day before her tragic passing.The Hollywood star earned multiple award nominations across her career, most notably while playing cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes and Juliette Barnes on Nashville.She also appeared in the Scream franchise as Kirby Reed, and lent her voice to the video games Until Dawn and Kingdom Hearts. Panettiere recently released a memoirPanettiere is predeceased by her brother, Jensen, who passed away in February 2023 from 'an enlarged heart' aged 28.She has said that she felt like she 'lost half of her soul' following his death, and revealed that the stress of his loss resulted in her body 'ballooning out', which left her in a 'really bad' and 'destructive' place.The tragic news of her death comes just months after her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, became a New York Times bestseller. In the book, Panettiere described how she contended with fame and handled the difficulties in her life. She had suffered from drug addiction, beginning when she was just 15 years old.At the time, she claimed she started taking 'happy pills' in an effort to make her seem more 'peppy' during interviews.Her addiction then became worse as she was battling postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya in 2014. But Panettiere has been sober in recent years, she said in a 2022 interview, noting that 'it's an everyday battle.' Panettiere started out as a child star, with her first acting gig at just 11 months old The actress's younger brother, Jansen Panettiere, passed away in February 2023 from 'an enlarged heart'. They're seen together in 2011 Panettiere leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter with ex Wladimir Klitschko'It's an everyday choice, and I'm checking in with myself all the time,' Panettiere told People at the time. 'But I'm just so grateful to be part of this world again, and I will never take it for granted again.'She has also told how she nearly died during childbirth, and later relinquished custody of her daughter to her ex, former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, while struggling with postpartum depression in 2018. Her daughter now lives in Europe.Speaking of the decision, Panettiere said she 'desperately' needed help at the time and insisted that Kaya does not feel 'abandoned' while appearing in an episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.'The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be okay with it is heartbreaking. Couldn't be further from the truth,' Panettiere said.'I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and postpartum and having to act my way through it, and just feeling like I completely lost myself,' she added.Panettiere has also come out as bisexual as she promoted her new book.'It's sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?' the Nashville alum told Us Weekly in May.'I've chosen to share it with the world, I'm comfortable saying I'm bisexual. I'm comfortable to confidently say that, yes, I am bisexual. I said it!' Panettiere is seen crying following her brother's celebration of life event in their hometown of Palisades, New York Panettiere is pictured with her daughter, after telling how she almost died during childbirthDespite having little privacy due to 'paparazzi always outside waiting for me,' Panettiere still managed to secretly date women, whom she preferred to men from 'a very, very young age.''[I was] much more into women,' the two-time Golden Globe nominee said.'But, yeah, I have explored it, but I don't think I ever had the courage, because I hadn't shared this with anybody. 'I didn't really have the courage to throw myself fully, emotionally into it, because then if I did fall in love, that wasn't something that I wanted to ever have to hide. I didn't feel confident enough, and I was too afraid to really let that part of me explore that part of me.' Panettiere came out as bisexual as she promoted her new book She played Juliette Barnes on the ABC show Nashville, releasing a number of her own songs Panettiere is pictured with actor Adrian Pasdar on the set of HeroesPanettiere was born on August 21, 1989 in Palisades, New York.She first started acting at just 11 months old when she appeared on screen in a commercial.Her full-time acting career then began in 1994 when she played Sarah Roberts in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live until 1997. She then played Lizzie Spaulding in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light from 1996 to 2000.For her role on Pixar's A Bug's Life, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award and Grammy Award, making her the fifth-youngest nominee for a Grammy. Her other credits include Remember the Titans, Ally McBeal, Racing Stripes, Ice Princess and I Love You, Beth Cooper. Panettiere also recorded a number of songs for the films and television programs she was in, including My Hero is You for the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise and I Fly for the Disney film Ice Princess, which she co-starred in with the late Michelle Trachtenberg. Her first single not associated with an acting role, the reggae-infused Wake Up Call, was digitally released on August 5, 2008.Clothing brand Candie's announced it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July of that year, and provided additional promotion for the song with a television ad and a music video starring Sebastian Stan, who played Panettiere's brother in The Architect.Panettiere later saw fame as one of the stars of Nashville, which ran from 2012 to 2018 and for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe awards. Following the news of her death, actor Randall Slavin shared a photo of him with Panettiere, writing: 'Peace be with you.' Actress Selma Blair also wrote on Instagram: 'I love you. Don't be gone. Don't be gone. Please.'SAG-AFTRA added that it 'mourns the sudden passing of Hayden Panettiere.'This is a breaking news story.