Hayden Panettiere Reportedly Took a Single Pill Believed to Be Laced With Fentanyl Before Her Death

Hayden Panettiere died after taking a pill authorities believe was oxycodone laced with fentanyl.

A new report has shed more light on the final hours of Hayden Panettiere, claiming the actress took just one pill believed to contain fentanyl on the day she died.

Panettiere, best known for her roles in “Heroes” and “Nashville,” died in South Carolina on Aug. 16, shortly before what would have been her 37th birthday. Her exact cause of death has not yet been officially released, and toxicology testing could take up to 12 weeks.

According to multiple law enforcement sources cited in reports, investigators believe Panettiere took what she thought was an oxycodone pill. The pill is suspected of having been laced with fentanyl.

Authorities are now reportedly investigating how she obtained it.

Investigators focus on Panettiere’s alleged supplier

Hayden Panettiere and her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, are seen at LAX in Los Angeles, California, in March.LionsShareNews / BACKGRID

Before traveling to South Carolina, Panettiere is believed to have met with a person described in reports as her longtime drug dealer in Los Angeles.

Drug Enforcement Administration officials in Los Angeles and South Carolina are reportedly involved in the investigation, with authorities said to be focusing on a potential supplier.

Panettiere’s on-and-off boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, who traveled with her and was at the South Carolina apartment where she died, has reportedly met with DEA officials.

It remains unclear what Hickerson told investigators. He had previously told police that Panettiere was traveling with a “bag of medication.”

Police records reportedly referenced nine different medications, although their names were redacted.

Despite the latest claims about the suspected pill, authorities have not formally announced Panettiere’s cause of death. The case therefore remains dependent on the results of toxicology testing.

She had spoken openly about addiction

She was found dead in a South Carolina apartment.Robin Rayne for NY Post

The latest development carries particular weight because Panettiere had publicly discussed her long struggle with alcohol and opioid addiction.

In her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” published only three months before her death, the actress reflected candidly on addiction, postpartum depression and the toll those struggles had taken on her life.

Panettiere previously said her exposure to pills began when she was just 15 and someone on her team offered her what she called “happy pills” before red-carpet appearances.

“They were to make me peppy during interviews,” she said in a 2022 interview.

She later acknowledged that she had not understood at the time how significant that moment would become.

“I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction,” Panettiere said.

Her struggles intensified as she grew older, even as her acting career took off.

“But things kept getting out of control [off set],” she recalled. “And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”

Doctors had warned her about her health

Actress Hayden Panettiere attends the Time Warner Cable Studios and Revolt Bring the Music Revolution event on Saturday, February 1, 2014, in New York City.Eugene Gologursky

Panettiere also described serious physical consequences from years of alcohol use.

After giving birth to her daughter Kaya in 2014, she struggled with postpartum depression and increasingly turned to alcohol. Her health eventually deteriorated to the point that she developed jaundice, a condition that can be associated with impaired liver function.

“Doctors told me my liver was going to give out,” she wrote.

Hayden Panettiere appears on “Tamron Hall” on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.Disney via Getty Images

She also recalled receiving an even more frightening warning from a doctor: “A doctor told me that if I didn’t stop drinking, I’d be dead within five years.”

Now, investigators are working to establish exactly what happened before Panettiere’s death and where the pill she reportedly took came from.

For now, the claim that it contained fentanyl remains part of the ongoing investigation, while the official toxicology findings — and Panettiere’s exact cause of death — have yet to be released.