Hayden Panettiere was always candid about the complicated journey that shaped her relationship with her only child, daughter Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.
The Heroes and Nashville actress died on Sunday, Aug. 16, at age 36, her representative confirmed to PEOPLE. Further details surrounding her death have not been released.
In the months before her death, Panettiere spoke openly about Kaya in her May 2026 memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, and during an appearance that same month on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast. She reflected on everything from her traumatic childbirth and postpartum depression to her struggles with addiction and the devastating decision to allow Klitschko to have full custody of their daughter.
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Despite living apart for years, Panettiere said in her memoir that her bond with Kaya remained “incredibly strong.” She also mentioned, “Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life, and it’s hard to describe the layers of emotion including sadness, resentment, and anger I’ve felt because of it”.
She continued with her statement and noted, “I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be and definitely not the mother I want to be (trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime), and although I miss Kaya so much, my heart aches, I know how blessed I am to be her mom. She is the greatest gift of my life, with all the best parts of her father and me”.
Panettiere also described Kaya as “talented and wise beyond her years,” while explaining that she intentionally kept much of her daughter’s life out of her memoir. “She didn’t ask to be born into the limelight or my chaos, and she didn’t get to choose her parents,” Panettiere wrote. “I want her to have every choice that I didn’t, including the ability to live a private life.”
Out of respect for Kaya’s “right to normalcy,” Panettiere said she would tell stories about motherhood only from her own perspective and keep personal details about her daughter “to a minimum.”
She also took responsibility for what she called her “shortcomings as a mom” and praised Klitschko, writing that he was “one of the most courageous people I’ve ever met and a true hero in so many ways.” “Wlad, you are a wonderful human being and an amazing father to Kaya,” she wrote.
Panettiere and Klitschko welcomed Kaya in Hawaii on December 9, 2014. “We are over the moon and madly in love!” the then-couple told PEOPLE following her birth.
But Panettiere revealed in This Is Me: A Reckoning that the pregnancy and delivery were far more difficult than the public knew at the time.
