Hayden Panettiere allegedly received threatening messages from her on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson after his 2020 arrest.
According to court documents connected to Hickerson’s 2020 arrest for domestic battery, which were recently obtained by TMZ, he allegedly sent Panettiere multiple texts about the accusations.
“Time to go to war I guess,” read one alleged text shared in a probable cause warrant, with another claiming, “After Wyoming and LA disappears, so do the videos.”
A third alleged text said, “Even if I sit in a jail cell for 10 years, all of the stuff that is vaulted overseas with my people will come out the second I step foot into prison. And all that does is hurt your name while simultaneously clearing my name. And at that point who actually cares?”
Hickerson was arrested in February 2020 after an alleged physical altercation with Panettiere in Wyoming. (Hickerson was previously arrested in California months earlier following a separate domestic violence incident involving the Heroes alum. The charges were ultimately dropped after Panettiere declined to testify in court.)
Hickerson was sentenced to one year in jail following the Wyoming incident, which a judge ended up suspending. Instead, Hickerson was ordered to one year of probation.
In a police report, law enforcement officials stated that the alleged texts to Panettiere featured threatening language.
“Say something Hayd, so I don’t get defensive and start firing off emails to people to get ready,” another alleged message read, with a fifth claiming, “I thought his legal stuff would magically disappear … we gotta figure something out, buddy.”
According to the court documents, police believed that Hickerson tried to intimidate Panettiere into dropping the case.
“It is very simple, it is a very simple fix, between me and you, you gotta make one phone call,” another text allegedly read, with another apparently stating, “I don’t want to go to court, for you. I will be f***ing fine in court, trust me, it’s for you.”
Panettiere died in South Carolina on Sunday, August 16. She was 36.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” the late actress’ father, Skip Panettiere, told Us in a statement. “She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen. We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Hayden is survived by her parents and her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya. Hickerson was on the scene when Hayden was found dead. The pair dated on and off from 2018 to 2020, with a source recently telling Us that they “always remained in contact” despite their breakups.
Days after Hayden’s death, local South Carolina police were spotted outside Hickerson’s family home on Wednesday, August 19, for an undisclosed reason.
Hickerson has not publicly addressed Hayden’s death or the texts from 2020. Us has reached out for comment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
