Hayden Panettiere defended Scream 6 co-star fired from film series over social media posts
Hayden Panettiere called her co-star Melissa Barrera's firing from the Scream franchise in 2023 'very unfair and upsetting'.
The late actor, known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, was pronounced dead at her property aged 36 in South Carolina on Sunday (16 August).
A statement from the Greenville Police Department said: "[Officers] accompanied by EMS personnel, responded to a report of an unresponsive female at around 1:50 p.m. Sunday.
"Upon arrival, medical assistance was administered; however, the individual, later identified as Hayden Panettiere, was pronounced deceased at the scene."
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No cause of death has yet been announced.
Panettiere played Kirby Reed for the second time in Scream VI in 2023 alongside Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter.
Taking to Instagram Stories on Monday, Barrera wrote on top of a black background: "Rest in peace sweet Hayden," with a broken love heart emoji.
When Barrera was axed from the franchise, Panettiere had sympathy with her comments about the war in Palestine, forcing $500k rewrites of the new sequel.
“After she [spoke out], then a whole bunch of other actors and people in the industry started to do the same thing, right?” Panettiere told The Messenger. “It was almost like she just did it earlier than everyone else.
“You know, a lot of people hadn’t really asked her how she felt.
“Melissa is such a badass as a human being and as an actress… She was hurt by it, but I think she took it in stride and was very, very gracious about it.”
Following the news of Panettiere's death, fellow Scream 4 co-star David Arquette wrote on Instagram: “I love you Hayden.”
Bethany Joy Lenz – a long-time friend of Panettiere – said she was 'crushed' by her death.
“There is nothing that posting pictures on the internet can do. I avoid it usually in moments like this. But I’m here with my head in my hands and I don’t know what else to do in aside from praying for her soul, which I have done and will continue.
“I’m crushed. I knew the wild little blonde. Was she nine? Ten? I was eighteen. She ran through the Screen Gem studio hallways at 222 E44th St. laughing and playing games in between blocking and camera rehearsals. Long, unruly curls trailing behind her. She knew her lines and everyone else’s. Her intelligence was astonishing. She understood scenes and nuance and human struggle like no child I’d ever seen on camera. And she’d sit with you for a great conversation, then giggle and go play," the One Tree Hill star wrote.
“We’d connect on and off over the years, like the cousin in the family reunion who got famous and life moved her away – but I always felt such joy seeing her when we were lucky enough to cross paths. We’d make a pact to talk soon. Lunch. Dinner. Somewhere we could curl up into a corner – but we never quite made it happen. I mostly stayed up to date through mutual friends.”
Lenz went on to write that she 'didn’t understand how this is real'.
Topics: Celebrity
Anish Vij