Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, was arrested for felony domestic violence against her in May following an incident at Hayden’s home. He’s facing up to four years in prison on that charge. The police report indicates that Hayden had a visible bite mark on her arm, bruising on her neck and arms, a bloodied nose, and told the officer that she had been assaulted twice that night, once in which she was choked and another in which Brian struck her on the face. It sounded just awful and thankfully a protection order was issued by the court against Brian ordering him to keep away from Hayden. Unfortunately it is likely Hayden is still seeing him, as evidenced by articles in People from well-meaning by very poorly informed “sources” who claim that Hayden needs “to straighten up, move ahead [and] get over this guy.” That’s not how domestic abuse works and Hayden is trapped and needs more than a pep talk, but whatever People Mag “sources.”
Radar recently uncovered 911 calls from Hayden’s residence revealing that police were called four times from October to December of last year. The details are harrowing and involve more domestic abuse.
According to 911 logs first obtained by Radar, Panettiere’s nightmare began on Aug. 18, 2018, when Hickerson allegedly got into a brawl with his brother at her Hollywood Hills home.
Police also responded to a group disturbance at Panettiere’s home on Oct. 25, 2018.
Plus, an anonymous 911 call just before 11 p.m. on Nov. 12, 2018 reported a “verbal dispute” between a male and female who were “possibly breaking items.”
The caller told cops that the pair fighting inside the home were “dating,” although it’s not confirmed that the individuals were Panettiere and Hickerson.
On Dec. 8, 2018 an anonymous caller said a suspect at Hayden’s address “threw items and struck” an unknown victim, who refused an ambulance, according to the 911 report.
The suspect fled by car, while the victim, believed to be Panettiere, waited in the living room with friends for police to arrive. Cops were called again because the suspect returned, the report said.
As Radar has reported, Panettiere’s relationship with aspiring actor Hickerson, 30, hit rock bottom on May 2, when he was charged with domestic violence. after police say he hit Panettiere in the face, blackened her eyes, bit and bruised her arms and scratched her back.
The good news is that Hayden, or someone close to her, is calling 911 and reporting the abuse. The bad news is that these are the worst incidents, she’s surely been through so much more including a daily litany of small terrible things meant to break her down. Plus I’m pretty sure Brian wasn’t charged until the FIFTH time cops were called to Hayden’s home. She’s a celebrity. Consider what everyday women must go through to get help in domestic violence situations. Just reading this matter-of-fact account is making me sick to my stomach and my heart goes out to her. Domestic abuse is awful and insidious. I really hope that Brian gets prison time for his crimes. Hopefully he’ll spend at least a few months behind bars and Hayden will be able to either move or get security. I can’t imagine what she’s dealt with already.
photos credit: Backgrid and WENN
This is so sad. Men like this need to be locked up for long periods of time. Like decades. I hope she gets help.
I don’t know if locking them up is the answer. I don’t know what the answer is, but I question the thought of housing them with so many other violent men in a place that doesn’t have very many, if any women.
Real change comes from within & these men need to learn to respect women, and most likely themselves too.
I believe they belong in jail/prison so they can’t continue to assault women they are in intimate relationships with.
During my relationship with my ex, after my first couple beatings I began to do some digging and uncovered his long history of beating women. This is a pattern that cannot be changed when it gets to this level of violence at this age. Under the right stressors, the right circumstances – these abusers will resort to what they know.
Yes, these loser men will make friends in jail, and all the sociopaths in their DV group sessions will probably BS each other and stroke each others fragile sociopathic egos and they will learn more bad habits in jail. But They need to be punished and removed from society.
I wish my abuser had been in jail at the time we met for beating his previous girlfriend. If it would have been on a background check or he would have been locked up… it would have saved me a lot of pain and suffering from the trainwreck I didn’t know was heading straight for me.
I worked at a university and one of the issues addressed by the research center I was with was DV/intimate partner abuse. One of our partners was The Legal Project and their E.D. said that abusers need three consequences to change their behavior: criminal justice, personal, and community/societal. Violent abusers should absolutely be incarcerated, and as society, we should work to support survivors and their rights and condemn abusers.
My state in Australia recently introduced new procedures for when police are called to attend a domestic/family violence situation. After they assess the situation, the perpetrator is arrested, taken into custody and charged. It does not matter if it the first time the police have been called. The police, regardless of the victim’s wishes (in most cases), will issue an interim protection order, preventing the perpetrator from being in the dwelling with the victim. It seems to be working well, so far. For a small country of 25 million, we recently had a terrible spate of female partners being killed by their abusive male partners at the rate of one each week. Abusers need to be taken to task and face the full force of the law. We also need to end, once and for all, the victim-blaming: “she must have done something to really upset him”; “she needs to pay more attention to him”; “she needs to stop pressing his buttons”; “why doesn’t she just leave?” It’s not about what SHE doesn’t do, it’s about what HE does.
It’s a relief to know her little girl does not witness this.
In Germany the police (and later a court) can order the abuser to leave the shared home for up to two weeks. They get the keys taken away and are not allowed to contact the victim during that time.
I agree & these men need to be charged when there is dv- not the 5th time, but the 1st. My state passed mandatory arrest laws if someone has a mark, because we can’t trust the police to enforce our laws, and this does impact the actual victim at times (tools can be misused), but I think it’s a good step in the right direction. My state also put into place diversion programs, which means that if it the perp’s 1st offense, they can enter a batterer intervention program for one year & get therapy (like anger management but with the reality of sexism & patriarchy instilled in the program). If a woman is arrested, charged & chooses diversion, she goes into anger management & hopefully gets help as well. Fortunately, I think our focus on accountability & rehabilitation is on the rise but I’m hoping it skyrockets cuz it’s got a long way to go.
Hi, MC2. I’ll have to check out whether those charged with domestic/family violence must attend any diversion/intervention programs. I know that with our new DUI laws, the penalties are very severe – hefty fine, alcohol/drug therapy programs, in-car breath testing machine (which offender pays for) for up to two years. As if that’s not enough, a criminal record and attendance at parole meetings for up to 18 months. All this (for high-range DUI, at least ), even if it’s a first offence. I hope they have something similar for family violence. There is no reason, and no excuse why a person should inflict violence on his or her partner, especially one they claim to love.
This whole situation breaks my heart and hits close to home (sister). I hope she gets out safely and stays safe.
TMI maybe? I found a Twitter thread one time of women talking about the abuse they endured from bfs – men locking them up for days, bfs tying them up, bfs kidnapping them, threats to kill or hurt their families; men using guns to rape. It truly stuck with me how many women had these stories (self included) and how ingenious they had to be to escape and survive. My heart goes out to her. She needs a good support system to get out.
This poor woman. One of the many child actors that is having trouble as an adult, Her parents sold her childhood. I feel so sorry for her.
Her parents could give the Lohans a run for their money. Always got a bad vibe off of them.
While I agree that it’s good her daughter is where she is and I don’t shame her for that decision…I am less and less certain that situation is the result of a reasoned and rational decision on Hayden’s part. She seems to be a MESS. It’s still the right thing for the child, but I’m starting to wonder if this won’t become an issue in the near future.
Does Brian not know who Hayden’s ex husband is??? Her ex husband Wlad is not only a pro Champion boxer but a massive Ukrainian dude with mob connections. And Hayden is his baby momma and ex. I hope Wlad beats up Brian 🙂
“I hope Wlad beats up Brian”
Sigh….no. Because then Wlad goes to jail and the child has no stable parent present. Ladies we really have to stop thinking in these soap opera/romance novel cliches.
The real work of her getting out of this relationship will be long, unglamorous, and to large extent, psychological.
Hoping Hayden can find safety and peace. I have a soft spot for her, maybe it’s bc of watching her grow up on screen.
I lived in a small town with my abuser and the cops never arrested him for domestic violence and they intervened 4 times. Once, when he was blowing a gasket while I was on my way to work, I walked into work and all the lines were lit up because he posted on social media to call my work because our daughter “needed help and he couldn’t get ahold of me” (he was mad about something completely irrational). I had to turn around and go home, crying and humiliated in front of my boss and all my coworkers. I’m sure most of them knew it was a family emergency of another kind. Anyway, the cop responding when I called for a welfare check on my poor children, while I was driving home frantically, told me that he spoke with my husband and that he was just upset because he thinks I’m cheating on him AND THAT I NEEDED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO HIM!!! Luckily, by that point family had gotten the kids out of his care and dropped him off at a relatives house. They had already gotten 2 domestic dispute calls from neighbors before then. Another time, the dispatcher told me she wouldn’t send anyone to make him give me my car keys so I could leave because “we live together” was her exact reason, somehow that made my car HIS car too?? This is what victims deal with when we try to reach out for help.
It wasn’t until we moved to a big city that the first time neighbors called when he was assaulting me, he was actually thrown in jail and I was asked if I wanted a protection order, which I immediately accepted. I was able to use the 3 months he spent in jail awaiting his court date and protection order to finally break free from his control and he wasn’t allowed to harass me or my family and friends. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and the judge only sentenced him to 11 days, which he uses as “proof” it wasn’t that bad, so his light sentence basically reinforces his behavior and abusive mentality.
Good luck to Hayden I hope she stays away from him and he gets the jail time he deserves.
Awful. So glad you got out.
You poor love, Jennifer. I hope life is much better, calmer and happier for you and your children now. Hugs.
Re your capitals, I just posted up top those very words. I once heard a woman say the exact same thing about a “friend” of hers. Makes me wonder…
So sorry.
HUGS TO YOU. glad you got out.
Thank you for sharing this. I’m not brave enough yet. ❤️
What is it what abusers and biting? I remember Rhianna had a bad bite (on her cheek?) after the Chris Brown incident. The one and ONLY man that ever hit me bit my hand- breaking the skin. It’s just such a bizarre theme I have grown to notice. Also, I suggest she do what I did and GTFO! It only gets worse.
This guy is a monster and needs to be locked up.
I hope he doesn’t get a slap on the wrist type plea deal.
Given the press coverage the ‘aspiring actors’ career ain’t going nowhere esp in the MeToo climate, he has to know this and is likely one of the many things he attacks her for
Could it have been that she declined to press charges the other times? Idk how that works, but the previous poster mentioning people being charged the first time no matter what sounds like it needs to be implemented if it’s not the case here.
I’m glad her daughter is safe. I hope the same for Hayden.
it’s not up to the victim to decide whether or not to press charges against an abuser – it’s up to the state. after all, some victims would never be able to decide to press charges on their own.
I work at a DV shelter. When an abuser restricts your airway in any way then they are more likely to kill you. I hope she gets out soon.
🙁
Yes to what Lyssa said. Statistics say that if he chokes once he’ll choke again.
And he’ll succeed at killing eventually.
This is a dismal and scary situation and I hope she has help getting safe and secure away from him bc otherwise she might end up another statistic 🙁 He is clearly a sick and abusive monster who has little to lose 🙁
We don’t actually know if this is the worst, or if the police were called every time. I doubt seriously that that is the case.
As a survivor of 7 years of horrific abuse, I’m saying what we’re seeing here is only the tp of the iceberg. If this much is getting out, what happens when nobody was there to see?
Exactly. The one time my abuser was arrested was one of the less extreme assaults I experienced from him. There were A LOT of other times it was much, much worse and I sustained more serious injuries. So on his conviction, it doesn’t truly reflect how bad the abuse was and allows him to explain it away and minimize it as much as he can.
I hope she is able to get her life together and get to a healthy place.
I know everyone always says “Thank goodness Kaya is with her father and his family” – and while I agree, I also find it incredibly sad. No matter how loving and supportive Vlad and his family are, I can’t imagine that there isn’t heartache for this little girl to seemingly not have her mother in her life, other than drop by visits.