Selma Blair seemed utterly stunned as she processed the sudden and tragic passing of her dear friend, Hayden Panettiere, late on Sunday evening.

At age 54, Blair was among the first in the celebrity community to honor the late Nashville actress. She expressed her grief by commenting on Panettiere’s last Instagram post, shortly after the heartbreaking news broke that the 36-year-old star had passed away.

With her heart clearly aching, Blair wrote beneath a photo that Panettiere shared on July 27—her final upload to Instagram—pleading, “I love you. Don’t be gone. Don’t be gone. Please. Please.”

In another poignant message just 11 minutes later, Blair added, “I love you whale tail my friend,” showing the depth of their friendship.

It wasn’t long after that Blair returned with yet another heartfelt comment, reflecting her deep sorrow over losing a cherished friend.

‘I’m dying. Please be here,’ she wrote under Panettiere’s photo. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Blair and Panettiere to request comment but has not yet received a response. 

Panettiere’s cause of death was not immediately clear, but enforcement sources have confirmed to TMZ that police responded to an incident involving the actress.

‘There’s an investigation ongoing,’ Panettiere’s publicist said in a statement to NBC News. ‘We should know more tomorrow.’

Blair had previously shared kind words after the Heroes star’s brother, Jansen Panettiere, died in 2023. 

On an Instagram post dated to December 2022 on Jansen’s page, the Legally Blonde actress had written, ‘Fly with the angels.’

Panettiere’s brother died two months after his post, in February 2023. His unexpected death was later determined to be due to cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart, while aortic valve complications also played a role.

Representatives for the former child star announced on Sunday: ‘It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden. 

‘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.’ 

Panettiere’s final Instagram post featured a jubilant black-and-white photo of the actress playfully sticking her tongue out for the camera while she was embraced by her friend, the director and podcaster Randall Slavin.

Slavin reposted the photo in his Instagram Stories on Sunday night as he paid tribute to his fallen friend.

‘Peace be with you, H,’ he wrote while adding an animated red heart. 

 Rosie O’Donnell was among the stars registering their heartbreak over news of Panettiere’s death.

‘Oh my god – heartbroken #hayden,’ the former talk show host wrote to accompany a beaming photo of the late actress.

O’Donnell had hosted Panettiere on her eponymous talk show back in 2000, when the child star had wowed O’Donnell by singing Britney Spears’s song Crazy a cappella. 

On Sunday, sources told TMZ that Panettiere had been recently complaining of back pain and that she and her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, flew from Los Angeles to the south just one day before her tragic passing.

The Hollywood star earned multiple award nominations across her career, most notably while playing cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes and Juliette Barnes on Nashville.

She also appeared in the Scream franchise as Kirby Reed, and lent her voice to the video games Until Dawn and Kingdom Hearts. 

Panettiere is predeceased by her brother, Jensen, who passed away in February 2023 from ‘an enlarged heart’ aged 28.

She has said that she felt like she ‘lost half of her soul’ following his death, and revealed that the stress of his loss resulted in her body ‘ballooning out’, which left her in a ‘really bad’ and ‘destructive’ place.

The tragic news of her death comes just months after her memoir, This is Me: A Reckoning, became a New York Times bestseller. 

In the book, Panettiere described how she contended with fame and handled the difficulties in her life.  

She had suffered from drug addiction, beginning when she was just 15 years old.

At the time, she claimed she started taking ‘happy pills’ in an effort to make her seem more ‘peppy’ during interviews.

Her addiction then became worse as she was battling postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya in 2014. 

But Panettiere has been sober in recent years, she said in a 2022 interview, noting that ‘it’s an everyday battle.’

‘It’s an everyday choice, and I’m checking in with myself all the time,’ Panettiere told People at the time. 

‘But I’m just so grateful to be part of this world again, and I will never take it for granted again.’

She has also told how she nearly died during childbirth, and later relinquished custody of her daughter to her ex, former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, while struggling with postpartum depression in 2018. 

Her daughter now lives in Europe.

Speaking of the decision, Panettiere said she ‘desperately’ needed help at the time and insisted that Kaya does not feel ‘abandoned’ while appearing in an episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.

‘The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be okay with it is heartbreaking. Couldn’t be further from the truth,’ Panettiere said.

‘I was struggling with mental health and anxiety and postpartum and having to act my way through it, and just feeling like I completely lost myself,’ she added.

Panettiere has also come out as bisexual as she promoted her new book.

‘It’s sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?’ the Nashville alum told Us Weekly in May.

‘I’ve chosen to share it with the world, I’m comfortable saying I’m bisexual. I’m comfortable to confidently say that, yes, I am bisexual. I said it!’

Despite having little privacy due to ‘paparazzi always outside waiting for me,’ Panettiere still managed to secretly date women, whom she preferred to men from ‘a very, very young age.’

‘[I was] much more into women,’ the two-time Golden Globe nominee said.

‘But, yeah, I have explored it, but I don’t think I ever had the courage, because I hadn’t shared this with anybody. 

‘I didn’t really have the courage to throw myself fully, emotionally into it, because then if I did fall in love, that wasn’t something that I wanted to ever have to hide. I didn’t feel confident enough, and I was too afraid to really let that part of me explore that part of me.’

Panettiere was born on August 21, 1989 in Palisades, New York.

She first started acting at just 11 months old when she appeared on screen in a commercial.

Her full-time acting career then began in 1994 when she played Sarah Roberts in the ABC soap opera One Life to Live until 1997. She then played Lizzie Spaulding in the CBS soap opera Guiding Light from 1996 to 2000.

For her role on Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award and Grammy Award, making her the fifth-youngest nominee for a Grammy. 

Her other credits include Remember the Titans, Ally McBeal, Racing Stripes, Ice Princess and I Love You, Beth Cooper. 

Panettiere also recorded a number of songs for the films and television programs she was in, including My Hero is You for the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise and I Fly for the Disney film Ice Princess, which she co-starred in with the late Michelle Trachtenberg. 

Her first single not associated with an acting role, the reggae-infused Wake Up Call, was digitally released on August 5, 2008.

Clothing brand Candie’s announced it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July of that year, and provided additional promotion for the song with a television ad and a music video starring Sebastian Stan, who played Panettiere’s brother in The Architect.

Panettiere later saw fame as one of the stars of Nashville, which ran from 2012 to 2018 and for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe awards. 

Following the news of her death, actor Randall Slavin  shared a photo of him with Panettiere, writing: ‘Peace be with you.’ 

Actress Selma Blair also wrote on Instagram: ‘I love you. Don’t be gone. Don’t be gone. Please.’

SAG-AFTRA added that it ‘mourns the sudden passing of Hayden Panettiere.’

This is a breaking news story.  

A grim tale from Virginia has surfaced, capturing widespread attention after revelations of a fatal incident during what has been described as consensual yet perilous foreplay. A young woman of 19 has found herself embroiled in legal proceedings, facing charges of involuntary manslaughter following a tragic game of what authorities likened to “Russian roulette” with a firearm.

The details of the case became clearer over the weekend, as WAVY-TV reported that Ember McSpadden allegedly squeezed the trigger of a handgun three times. With each pull, she counted the ominous clicks until the gun discharged a bullet which struck 26-year-old Shane Brooks in the neck, an event adding layers of complexity to their relationship now under scrutiny.

Investigations have revealed that Brooks himself handed over the weapon—a partially loaded gun with only one cartridge—to McSpadden. The pair reportedly indulged in foreplay that strangely involved both guns and knives, raising serious questions about the nature and risks of their interactions.

In a court setting, a lead detective from Virginia Beach characterized their connection as a “friends with benefits” situation, 13News Now disclosed. This portrayal has sparked significant debate and further inquiry into their dynamics.

On a different note, Brooks’ family has asserted an emotional disconnect from these happenings, stating they were unaware of McSpadden and insisting that Shane and McSpadden were not romantically involved. The family’s statement adds a layer of poignancy and mystery as the investigation continues.

McSpadden allegedly told investigators that the cylinder would be spun and then checked to make sure it was not positioned on the live round.

But on the final pass, the lead detective testified, McSpadden clicked the trigger multiple times before a bullet fired into Brooks’ neck, according to 13News Now.

The fatal shooting unfolded in the early morning hours of March 5.

Virginia Beach emergency dispatchers received a report of a shooting around 1:09 a.m. in the 2600 block of Virginia Beach Boulevard, according to police.

Officers arrived to find Brooks suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators found a total of seven guns in the room where Brooks died, including two revolvers on the bed, according to testimony reported by 13News Now.

One of the pistols was identified as the weapon used to shoot Brooks and had one cartridge case in the chamber, according to the station.

Virginia Beach police initially described Brooks’ death as the result of an “unintended firearm discharge.”

McSpadden, a Virginia Beach resident, was subsequently arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The startling circumstances surrounding the shooting later emerged in court, where prosecutors presented testimony from a lead Virginia Beach detective and a forensic specialist.

McSpadden, who was out on bond, appeared at a preliminary hearing Friday, where a judge found sufficient evidence for the involuntary manslaughter charge to move forward to a grand jury.

Her attorney, Artisha Gregg, maintained that Brooks’ death was a tragic accident that McSpadden neither intended nor foresaw.

“This incident is a tragedy that my client deeply regrets, as evidenced by her emotional reaction during our hearing today,” Gregg said in a statement.

“As the evidence presented in court demonstrated, this was a tragic accident that my client had no intention or foresight would occur,” she added.

McSpadden faces a maximum prison term of 10 years if convicted.

Brooks’ family said hearing the details of his death laid out in court was difficult.

“There’s nothing we wouldn’t give to have him back,” his brother, Hunter Brooks, said. “We wouldn’t even care about going through this, if we could just have him back, even for a little bit longer.”

“And as that won’t happen, we obviously want to go through the court process and see a conviction at trial,” he added.

Brooks’ mother, Penny Brooks, was similarly unequivocal.

“We just want justice for Shane,” she said.

“We’d do anything to have him back, but, yeah, it’s just a lot to process being in there.”

Brooks was a lifelong Virginia Beach resident who graduated from Old Dominion University and served as a staff sergeant in the Virginia National Guard, according to his obituary.

He had roughly a decade of military service and completed a nine-month tour in Iraq, the obituary said.

Brooks was also remembered as a marathon runner, licensed pilot and outdoorsman. His family described him as “the glue that held our family together.”

Members of his running community organized a memorial run in his honor.

McSpadden’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 21.

The Brooks family has raised $31,628 toward a $35,000 GoFundMe goal to help cover Shane’s funeral and memorial expenses following his sudden death.

As teenage sensations, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez captured the spotlight while strolling through New York City, hand in hand, as photographers eagerly snapped away. The scene unfolded during a memorable double date with brothers Joe and Nick Jonas, marking the early days of their blossoming friendship.

This iconic moment transpired in the summer of 2008. Although their romantic entanglements with the Jonas brothers came to an end, Gomez fondly reflected that their friendship was ‘the best thing we got out of those relationships.’

Through the ensuing years, navigating the challenges of public life only served to strengthen their connection, evolving to the point where Swift and Gomez now describe their relationship as akin to being ‘sisters.’

A confidante of Swift, aged 36, shared with the Daily Mail, ‘Taylor and Selena are incredibly close, like sisters. For nearly two decades, they’ve supported each other in personal and professional ventures. Taylor knows she can rely on Selena with complete trust, a bond that remains unshaken.’

Their connection runs so deep that it’s no surprise they aspire to experience parenthood together. They’ve even pledged to act as godparents for each other’s future children, further testament to their enduring friendship.

‘Taylor and Selena have agreed they want to have their babies as close time wise to each other as possible so they can bring them up together,’ our insider said. ‘They’ve essentially made a pact that they will be godmother to each other’s children.’

Such a pact, the insider said, is ‘a huge slap in the face to Blake Lively’ whose kids James, 11, Inez, nine, Betty, six, and Olin, three, were Swift’s godchildren until she recently rescinded the title.

Last month, the Daily Mail was told that Swift felt she had ‘no choice’ but to ‘remove herself’ from the position after her decade-long friendship with Lively was severed, seemingly beyond repair, after the actress dragged Swift into her legal battle with her It Ends with us co-star Justin Baldoni.

Swift first confirmed her godparent title back in July 2024 in an Instagram post hyping up Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, 49, and the release of his movie, Deadpool & Wolverine. But her role in their lives long pre-dated the public acknowledgement, with the singer namechecking the girls in her music, hosting them at her $17 million Rhode Island mansion, taking them trick-or-treating and even using James’ baby voice at the beginning of her song Gorgeous. 

But even if Lively and Swift’s friendship was still solid, it is unlikely Lively and her children would have spent time with Swift, Gomez and their respective children, given that Lively and Gomez have seemingly never been seen together with the Cruel Summer singer.

By the time 38-year-old Lively entered Swift’s orbit in 2015, Gomez had already been the singer’s friend for years. But Swift’s birthday bashes, Fourth of July parties, NFL game appearances and New Years Eve celebrations, to name but a few, have only ever been attended by Lively or Gomez – never both. In fact, there do not seem to be any photographs of the trio. 

Most recently, Gomez attended Swift’s New York City wedding to Travis Kelce – Lively did not.

Over the past decade, Gomez, who is a godmother to her cousin Priscilla’s two children, has seemingly only ever made one reference to Lively, and there is no evidence of Lively ever mentioning Gomez.

In a 2016 interview with Elle magazine, Gomez was asked who of her friends she would ‘trade her with’ if she had the chance. She named Lively.

‘I wish she was my friend, but she’s not my friend,’ she said. ‘Blake Lively. I’ve never met her, but I just love her hair. I think she’s got beautiful, effortless hair. I think she’s super beachy.’

It would seem that those feelings, however, have waned, with the Daily Mail exposing their apparent bad blood in April 2024. At the time, insiders claimed that the two were not friends, didn’t ‘mix’ and were ‘constantly avoiding run-ins with each other.’

But for all the tension between Gomez and Lively – and the breakdown of Swift’s friendship with the It Ends With Us star – a second insider insisted that Swift choosing to make Gomez the godmother of her children ‘wouldn’t be done to shade Blake.’

‘Taylor is very confident in her friendship with Selena and doesn’t worry about having any falling out,’ the source said.

‘If Selena has kids, Taylor knows for a fact that she would be close to them all forever.’

After all, Swift once said herself that ‘longevity is something you really can find very precious and rare in friendships’ when asked about her bond with Gomez.

So fierce is her love for the Rare Beauty founder, she said: ‘There has always been this quality of sisterhood, and I don’t say that in a basic way. I knew from when I met her, I would always have her back. In my life, I have the ability to forgive people who have hurt me. But I don’t know if I can forgive someone who hurts her.’

Clearly longevity and an ability to forgive are traits reserved for Gomez and apparently not extended to Lively.

And for her part, Gomez has never shied away from expressing her love and appreciation for Swift, once joking that she was risking the wrath of her best friend when she paid her an impromptu tribute after joining her on her Eras Tour.

‘This person has never ever judged a single decision I’ve made,’ Gomez said to thousands of screaming Swifties. ‘She’s always met me where I’ve been. She’s encouraged me when I’ve had nothing to be encouraged about, and I don’t know if I would be as strong as I am if I didn’t have you and your family because you’ve changed my life. And – she’s going to kill me after – but honestly, thank you for the bottom of my heart for supporting someone who I know is the most beautiful, strong, independent woman I’ve ever met. So thank you as a best friend.’

Perhaps one such occasion was helping Gomez with fertility struggles.

The actress, who married Benny Blanco in September last year, told Vanity Fair in 2024 that she had to ‘grieve’ not being able to carry a child.

‘I thought it would happen the way it happens for everyone,’ she said at the time. ‘[But] I’m in a much better place with that. I find it a blessing that there are wonderful people willing to do surrogacy or adoption, which are both huge possibilities for me.’

She added: ‘I’m excited for what that journey will look like, but it’ll look a little different. At the end of the day, I don’t care. It’ll be mine. It’ll be my baby.’

Gomez, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2013, and 38-year-old Blanco are said to be looking for a surrogate, which prompts the question: Are Swift and Kelce planning to start a family soon, too?

‘Taylor and Selena are looking forward to sharing the experience of having their first child around the same time,’ said our first insider.

And with no tour planned for Swift and 36-year-old Kelce eyeing retirement after this season, they said the coming months could be the perfect time for the best pals to think about starting families.

‘The timing works perfectly all around,’ they said.

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Swift and Gomez for comment. 

ROBBINS, Ill. (WLS) — Over the weekend, a security guard shot and killed a suspect who began firing inside a restaurant in a south suburb, according to officials on Sunday.

The mayor of the town, who was present at the scene, suffered minor injuries while trying to get to safety.

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The incident took place on the 13000 block of South Claire Boulevard in Robbins, Illinois, as reported by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The medical examiner stated that a 29-year-old man was declared dead at about 1 a.m. on Saturday. The death was ruled as a homicide, resulting from multiple gunshot wounds at the scene.

Later updates from Robbins officials to ABC7 revealed that the incident began when a masked gunman entered the restaurant, targeting someone inside. A contracted security officer quickly responded and shot the offender, who was later confirmed dead.

Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant was at the restaurant and was hospitalized with a minor injury, officials said. He was not the intended target of the gunman.

Cook County Sheriff’s Police Detectives said they were requested by Robbins police on Saturday to help investigate the shooting. The sheriff’s police confirmed a 29-year-old man and a 34-year-old man were hospitalized with minor injuries after the shooting incident.

The deceased suspect was identified by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department as 29-year-old Marquelle Rose of Chicago.

A spokesperson for the village of Robbins provided the following full statement Sunday:
“A shooting occurred last evening at Harold’s Chicken Restaurant in Robbins. A masked gunman entered the restaurant and opened fire toward an intended target. A contracted security officer with the restaurant intervened shooting the offender who was later pronounced dead.

A fatal shooting involving NYPD officers unfolded Sunday afternoon when a 54-year-old man allegedly charged at them with a butcher knife in a Lower East Side apartment building.

Police responded to several 911 calls about an ongoing assault, arriving at 126 Ludlow Street shortly after 4 p.m.

Upon entering, officers discovered a blood trail leading up the stairs, Assistant Chief Melissa Eger explained in a press briefing later that Sunday.

As they ascended, they encountered Wei Chan, aged 54, coming down wielding a substantial butcher knife, according to police reports.

“Officers repeated multiple commands for the male to show his hands in an effort for him to drop the weapon,” Eger said. “As officers issued repeated commands, the male continued to advance towards the officers armed with the large butcher knife.”

The officers then opened fire, striking Chan. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

“He has no known criminal history with our department. However, he does have a documented mental health history with the department,” Eger said.

Officers also found Wei Chan’s 75-year-old father, Cheung Chan, suffering from a laceration to the head. Investigators said Wei Chan had injured his father before police arrived.

He was also taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.

The responding officers were also taken to a hospital for evaluation, police said.

“Their actions are a reminder of how officers run towards danger and not away from it,” Eger said.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that he had been briefed on the shooting and that the incident would undergo an internal investigation.

“As with every incident in which NYPD officers discharge their weapons, there will be an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage of the incident will be released,” Mamdani wrote on X.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.

During a live broadcast, a Detroit news anchor found himself in fits of laughter when his colleague posed an ostensibly simple question about survival tactics.

On Thursday’s episode of Fox 2’s “Good Day Detroit,” co-anchor Ryan Ermanni lost his composure while Deena Centofanti discussed the History Channel’s survival series “Alone,” where participants rely on hunting and capturing wildlife for sustenance.

As the segment turned to discuss the animals featured on the show, Centofanti commented, “And, um, you’re looking for fat in the beaver.”

Meteorologist Derek Kevra responded affirmatively with a simple, “Yeah.”

Centofanti continued, explaining, “The beaver is the — the beaver is the most sought-after.”

“It is,” Kevra responded.

Centofanti then directed a question at Ermanni.

“Ryan, would you — do you think you could eat beaver? ’Cause it’s fat and then it’s meat.”

Ermanni cracked up at the apparent double entendre, putting his head in his hands as the conversation continued.

“It made them all sick, though. They all got sick after it,” he managed.

“Well, you have to — you can’t eat diseased animals,” Centofanti replied.

“Oh. Oh, God. What about a moose?” Ermanni said.

Centofanti answered, “Yeah.”

Ermanni, still recovering, conceded that the discussion had largely escaped him.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything about this show, Deena, but you’re really funny,” he said.

“Okay,” Centofanti replied.

“You are a really funny gal,” Ermanni added.

Ermanni later shared the clip on social media, while Centofanti wrote on Facebook that “you learn stuff” while watching “Alone.”