Kelly Osbourne’s Tribute to Hayden Panettiere:”I Will Always Believe You Deserved Better”

17 Aug 2026, 12:09 · Thought Catalog

Presley Ann / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Updated 3 minutes ago, August 17, 2026

Kelly Osbourne and Hayden Panettiere both started acting as children, and Osbourne’s tribute to her friend on Instagram Stories dwelled on what that cost them. “We understood each other in a way few truly can, recognizing how difficult it is to grow up in the spotlight, and how isolating it can feel even when surrounded by so many people,” she wrote.

At the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, Kelly Osbourne makes an appearance at the 32nd Annual Race To Erase MS Gala on May 16, 2025. Photo by Presley Ann / Getty Images.

Panettiere died in South Carolina over the weekend at 36. Her publicist told NBC News that an investigation was ongoing and that “we should know more tomorrow.”

She was one of a wave of stars who knew Panettiere from childhood and paid tribute this weekend. Bethany Joy Lenz, who acted alongside her on “Guiding Light,” remembered “the wild little blonde” running the Screen Gems hallways at 9 or 10, already knowing everyone’s lines. Heather Matarazzo, who rode the train to New York auditions with her as kids, called her a “Sprite of a being and such a talent.”

Hayden Panettiere at the Time Warner Screening Room in New York City for the “Temple Grandin” HBO premiere in January 2010. Photo by Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images.

Panettiere’s death came months after her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” became a New York Times bestseller. The book walked through her years of postpartum depression and addiction, and the loss of custody of her daughter, Kaya.

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