Hayden Panettiere's ex Brian Hickerson finally breaks silence on her death

It appeared that Hayden Panettiere’s former boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, made comments about her a long after her shocking death.

E! News obtained a clip of Hickerson being stopped by a photographer and being asked how he was doing after his ex’s passing outside of a gas station in Greenville, South Carolina, on Wednesday, September 16.

He agitatedly threw a question at the photographer rather than giving him a reply. He asked, “How do you think I’m doing?”

The photographer went on to extend his condolences to Hickerson, to which he responded, “Appreciate it. That’s all I got for you, man.”

It is pertinent to mention that this heated interaction occurred a month after the Scream 4 actress was found lifeless inside her Greenville home at the age of 36 on August 16, 2026.

As per a police report, Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson were also present at the scene of Panettiere’s death, but they found “no signs of trauma.”

The Malcolm in the Middle alum’s cause of death has yet to be determined; however, TMZ reported that investigators suspect that she took one oxycodone pill that was laced with fentanyl, which ultimately became the reason of her cause of death.

Hayden Panettiere and Brian Hickerson’s relationship, which started in 2018, was long-term yet highly tumultuous. In May 2019 and February 2020, he was apprehended following violent altercations and was sentenced to 45 days in county jail in 2021.