MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ SAID YOUNG STARS DYING ‘IS NOT NORMAL’
Michelle Rodriguez said young people dying is “not normal” after the Hayden Panettiere death, remembering her old co-host’s “curious spirit.”
Rodriguez, 48, made the remarks to Variety at a 25th anniversary screening of the original The Fast and the Furious in Los Angeles on Monday, August 17, 2026. Panettiere died the day before, on August 16, in Greenville, South Carolina. She was 36.
“I’ve got to tell you, man, I just can’t stand how many young people are leaving us lately,” Rodriguez said.
She did not stop there. “It’s disheartening, and it’s making me think, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s not normal,” she said.
Rodriguez was careful not to guess at reasons. “I don’t want to speculate about anything, but it’s weird,” she added.
She also looked back over the years. “Just in general, the amount and the volume of it since 2010 to now, it’s a lot,” Rodriguez said.
Remembering a former co-host
Rodriguez and Panettiere co-hosted the World Music Awards in 2010.
“Her curious spirit and how happy and joyous she is, because that’s her memory, right?” Rodriguez said of Panettiere, who was known for roles in Heroes and Nashville.
Panettiere’s father, Skip Panettiere, confirmed her death in a family statement, Cleveland.com reported. The statement called her “an incredible light and a force of nature.”
What came after
CNN reported that former child stars including Hilary Duff, Alexa PenaVega, Christy Carlson Romano and Anna Paquin paid tribute to Panettiere after her death.
Romano wrote about growing up in the entertainment industry in an essay for Elle. Paquin said in a post that female child stars are not as protected by systems as they are supposed to be.
Panettiere’s mother described the industry as challenging for young people and said some sadly find the wrong path. Her death renewed discussion of the pressures faced by people who enter entertainment as children, CNN reported.
Rodriguez’s comments landed in the middle of that conversation, and she kept her own remarks to grief and memory rather than theories.
The exact cause of Panettiere’s death had not been disclosed when CNN last reported on August 21, 2026.
