Blake Lively Asks People to ‘Be Kind’ as She Pays Tribute to Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg After Their Deaths

Angel SaundersTue, August 18, 2026 at 1:39 AM UTC

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Hayden Panettiere; Blake Lively; Michelle TrachtenbergCredit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty; Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage -

Blake Lively honored Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg with a heartfelt tribute on Instagram after their recent deaths

The late actresses starred together in the 2005 Disney movie Ice Princess, which also featured Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall

Panettiere’s family confirmed her death at 36, while Trachtenberg died at 39 in 2025

Blake Lively is paying tribute to Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Trachtenberg while asking that others choose kindness following their deaths.

On Monday, Aug. 17, the It Ends With Us actress, 38, used social media to honor the Ice Princess costars, 36, and 39, respectively, after the two actresses died within about a year of each other.

“Be. Kind. You never know what others are going through,” Lively wrote in an Instagram Stories post over a compilation of clips from Panettiere and Trachtenberg’s 2005 Disney movie.

Blake Lively pays tribute to Hayden Panettiere and Michelle TrachtenbergCredit: Disney; Blake Lively/Instagram

“Thank you to both these women for all the joy you brought so many,” Lively continued under the video.

Ice Princess, which also starred Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall, starred Trachtenberg as Casey Carlyle, a smart student with grades good enough to get into Harvard like her mother (Cusack), but instead chose to follow her dreams of becoming a figure skater.

Panettiere starred as Gen, the captain of the local figure skating team and rival, while Gen’s mom, Tina (Cattrall), was a former skater who became an ally to Trachtenberg, bringing Gen and Casey together as unlikely friends.

Panettiere’s family confirmed her death on Sunday, Aug. 16, days before her 37th birthday.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” her father, Alan Panettiere, said in a statement to PEOPLE via her rep.

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“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,” he added.

Panettiereis believed to have died after an apparent “overdose” and cardiac arrest while at a residence in South Carolina. However, an official cause of death for the Nashville actress, who had been open about her struggles with addiction and the heartbreak of losing her younger brother, has not yet been released.

There were no “signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances,” a spokesperson for the Greenville Police Department said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

Hayden Panettiere, Kristen Bell and Blake Lively, 2008.Credit: Sara Jaye/Shutterstock

“First responders and Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and located a female in cardiac arrest. EMS personnel initiated advanced cardiac life support measures; however, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased at 2:32 PM.”

Panettiere was a mom to her 11-year-old daughter Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, whom she welcomed in December 2014 with her then-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko.

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Trachtenberg, the Gossip Girl alum who appeared on the popular teen drama series alongside Lively, died in a New York City apartment as a result of complications from diabetes mellitusat 39 on Feb. 26, 2025, per the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Her manner of death was ruled natural.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”