Hayden Panettiere says abusive relationship was 'very dark and complicated time in my life'

Hayden Panettiere says being in an abusive relationship was “a very dark and complicated time in my life”.

In May 2019, Hayden’s on/off boyfriend Brian Hickerson was charged with domestic violence and she was issued a protective order. The charges were eventually dropped but in 2021 he pled no contest to two felony counts of injuring a partner and spent 13 days in jail.

Hayden, 32, told PEOPLE: “It was a very dark and complicated time in my life. But a lot of women go through what I went through, and I want people to know it’s OK to ask for help.

“None of it is OK. But I want to make sure that everybody knows that each person who goes through something like that, they’re on their own journey. No two things are exactly alike.”

However, Hayden and Brian, 33, have reconciled as friends and the pair were involved in a public altercation with another group at hotel in Los Angeles in March, after Brian made a comment to someone for leaving a “poor tip” for a server at a restaurant.

She explained: “None of it is OK, and I want to make sure that everybody knows that. But I am open to people who are willing to get help and make amends. He’s gone to treatment and done his time. And I’m trying to live in a place of forgiveness.

“I am trying to live in a place of understanding. I think [Brian] has done his time and was willing to get help. I think about the things I have done in my life that people forgave me for. Making amends is a really important thing that you learn in treatment. And it gives you a lot of inner peace.”