EXCLUSIVE: Hayden Panettiere's Pal Accused Brian Hickerson of 'Enabling Her' Addiction Issues Years Before 'Heroes' Star's Tragic Death

Hayden Panettiere's friend accused her boyfriend Brian Hickerson of "enabling" the actress' addiction issues years before her tragic death, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

On Sunday, August 16, the Heroes star's father announced her daughter's death, as emergency responders radioed that she may have had an accidental "overdose" of something.

Hickerson, the on-again-off-again partner of Panettiere, who in 2021 was sentenced to 45 days behind bars on two felony counts of injuring the movie star, received plenty of blame from her friends for her dark behavior.

"The relationship has been bad news from the start," a friend claimed while Panettiere was still alive and battling her demons. "They go out drinking, and she gets sloppy. He's been enabling her all along."

According to the pal, the Nashville star was scared of being alone and seemed to be on a downward spiral after losing custody of her daughter, Kara, to her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.

"Her loved ones think she has a serious drinking problem," the insider claimed at the time, and added that the star's family, who were "trying to convince her to get help," were weary of Hickerson's impact.

The insider claimed, "Brian's no good for her, and she's beginning to see that. She's got to move on and focus on getting sober. Otherwise, something really bad could happen."

Before her death, the 36-year-old was open about her drug and alcohol dependency, using her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, to detail the severity of her addiction.

"A doctor told me that if I didn't stop drinking, I'd be dead within five years," she wrote, recalling that she once developed jaundice and yellow eyes. Panettiere turned to treatment in 2020, entering an eight-month stay and battling withdrawal symptoms.

She wrote in her memoir, "As my nervous system tried to regulate itself without the depressant effects of alcohol, it went into overdrive, and my whole body shook. I couldn't sleep, and my head pounded like it was pressing against my skull."

After two weeks of no alcohol or antidepressants, Panettiere revealed she began to "feel calm" and experienced some joy.

"Two weeks later, I laughed. Not because of Brian or Wlad, or Mom or someone else whose approval I craved, but because of something I thought was funny. That laugh was all mine, and no one could take it from me."

As part of his plea deal, Hickerson was ordered to attend 52 domestic violence classes and pay a $500 fee following his release. At the time, Hickerson was reportedly removed from her home. However, that was not the end of their relationship.

The Remember the Titans and Hickerson took a flight out of Los Angeles to Greenville, South Carolina on August 15, just one day before her death.

The 911 call on the day of Panettiere's death came at 1:50 p.m. local time, when a dispatcher alerted responding units to an "unresponsive female" in "cardiac arrest."

EMS were later heard on the radio working on the patient, who they believed had suffered an "overdose," and CPR was "in progress." The star was pronounced dead inside the apartment at 2:32 p.m local time.

According to reports, a vial of Narcan was found on the mattress inside the apartment. The nasal spray is commonly used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose or similar drugs.