Brian Hickerson Threatened to Leak Compromising Videos of Hayden Panettiere

New court documents have shed more light on the troubled relationship between Brian Hickerson and Hayden Panettiere, including messages in which Hickerson allegedly threatened to release compromising material involving the actress.

According to the court documents, the messages were sent after Hickerson was arrested in 2020 following an alleged domestic violence incident involving Panettiere in Wyoming. At the time, a no-contact order was in place, but Hickerson allegedly continued to contact her.

In one message, he wrote, “It looks like it’s time for war.” Another message reportedly said, “When Wyoming and LA are gone, the videos will be gone too.” Prosecutors viewed the messages as an attempt to intimidate Panettiere and pressure her into avoiding court.

Hickerson allegedly went further, warning that material stored overseas could be released if he went to prison. In one of the messages, he wrote, “Even if I end up in prison for ten years, everything that is stored with my people overseas will be released as soon as I enter prison. It will only destroy your reputation and take the blame off me.”

He also allegedly tried to convince Panettiere to contact him directly instead of going through the legal process. “It’s very simple, it’s an easy solution, just between you and me, you have to make one call,” he reportedly wrote. “I don’t want to go to court because of you. I’ll be fine in court, trust me, I’m doing this for you.”

The messages were part of the legal proceedings that followed the 2020 incident. Hickerson was later sentenced in 2021 to 45 days in jail after being convicted of injuring his partner. His sentence also included four years of probation, 52 hours of domestic violence classes and a five-year restraining order. He ultimately served 33 days in jail.

The legal issues did not end there. Just days before Panettiere’s death, on August 13, a judge rejected Hickerson’s request to have the criminal charges reduced to misdemeanors. According to the court information, Hickerson argued that he had completed the required conditions, but the judge denied the request. A similar request had also been rejected in July 2025.

Panettiere and Hickerson first began dating in 2018 and had a relationship marked by serious problems. Despite their history, they had reportedly reconciled before Panettiere’s death.

According to initial reports, Hickerson and his brother Zach were at Panettiere’s apartment in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16. Zach reportedly found the 36-year-old actress unconscious in a chair in the living room. Brian was reportedly sleeping in another room at the time.

Emergency responders attempted to revive Panettiere, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. A call to emergency services reportedly raised the possibility of an overdose, while Narcan was found at the apartment. The cause of death has not been established in the information provided here.

Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, later spoke about Hickerson in an interview with NBC. Vogel said, “The person we had been trying to get rid of for a long time was with her when she died. That was Brian Hickerson.”

Panettiere had previously spoken publicly about her relationship with Hickerson in her memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning.” According to a source cited in reports about her final months, Panettiere had kept the reconciliation private from friends.

“If Brian came back into her life, she kept it secret because she didn’t talk to her friends about it,” the source said. “When you go through such dark periods with someone and speak about it publicly, you can feel ashamed if you return to that person. Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell us anything.”

The circumstances surrounding Panettiere’s death remain the subject of investigation, and the allegations contained in court documents should be understood in that legal context.

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