Hilary Duff, 38, hadn’t spoken to Hayden Panettiere in years. But when she learned that her friend had died on August 16 at 36, something in her went straight back to those childhood nights they shared as teenage stars.
“I remember staying up late, chatting and gossiping”, she wrote on Instagram. She said they were part of “a small group of people who truly understood the strange situation we were living through”. They were barely girls, trying to handle a fame that even they themselves didn’t fully understand.
Duff remembered her as hardworking and cheerful, with a smile impossible to forget. She apologized for losing touch and ended with a simple farewell: may she rest in peace. Panettiere, who made her television debut at age 4, had said in 2022 that behind those years of applause was much silent trauma that no one saw in time. 🕯️