By Page Six | Created at 2026-08-17 19:22:20 | Updated at 2026-08-17 19:37:45
24 minutes ago
Hayden Panettiere mentioned wanting “world peace” in her final text to musician friend Clayton Johnson.
Taking to Instagram Monday, the singer revealed details of the text exchange while paying tribute to the “Heroes” star, who died Sunday at the age of 36.
“It’s been a couple of weeks since our last phone call, but the last thing you ever texted me was, ‘Honestly, people think it’s a joke to ask for world peace, but that would be me,'” Johnson shared.
“That was you in a nutshell,” he added of Panettiere.
The Nashville-based singer’s post included a clip of the pair singing while he played the guitar, along with an emotional message about Panettiere’s death.
“Sweet Hayden. I spent last night trying to process, to try to find the right words, but there really aren’t any,” Johnson began his caption.
“More than anything, I hope you’re at peace now and reunited with Jansen,” he continued, referring to Panettiere’s brother who died of an undiagnosed heart condition at age 28 in February 2023.
Johnson further wrote, “I’m grateful I got to know you, and I’ll always be grateful for the memories. Fly high, Hayden. 🤍.”
Panettiere’s sudden death was announced by her father, Skip, on Sunday night.
“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 on-screen,” he said in a statement to Page Six. “We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
The “Nashville” star died Sunday in a luxury apartment complex in South Carolina, with 911 dispatch audio revealing she suffered “cardiac arrest” from a suspected “overdose.”
Emergency responders attempted to revive Panettiere but were unsuccessful.
An autopsy showed Panettiere had “no signs of trauma” at the time of her death, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office confirmed to Page Six on Monday.
While Panettiere’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed, cops claimed that there were “no signs of foul play.”
The former soap star reportedly flew from Los Angeles to South Carolina with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, the day before her death.
Panettiere made her final public appearance in May at a Los Angeles event for her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” in which she opened up about postpartum depression, motherhood and growing up in Hollywood.
During the panel discussion, Panettiere said her hope was to “leave the world a better place than [she] found it.”
That same month, the Golden Globe nominee teased “exciting” future plans on the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast.
“I finally feel like I have shaken off all of this darkness and this negativity,” she said.
“I’ve closed one door and another door is opened. I feel like I have a lot more life to live.”
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