Michelle Rodriguez Says She “Can’t Stand How Many Young People Are Leaving Us Lately” as She Remembers World Music Awards Co-Host Hayden Panettiere

Michelle Rodriguez Says She “Can’t Stand How Many Young People Are Leaving Us Lately” as She Remembers World Music Awards Co-Host Hayden Panettiere

Rodriguez and Panettiere once hosted the World Music Awards together. Now Rodriguez is remembering her as “happy and joyous” with a “curious spirit,” and saying out loud what a lot of people are thinking about how many young stars are dying.

Panettiere died Sunday at 36, found in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina.

Michelle Rodriguez and Hayden Panettiere take the stage together as co-hosts of the World Music Awards 2010 in Monte Carlo, with Panettiere holding a microphone and smiling broadly. Photo by Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images.
Two women pose side by side on a red carpet in front of a World Music Awards 2010 backdrop; one in a short patterned mini dress, the other in a black asymmetric mini dress.
On the red carpet in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Panettiere and Rodriguez pose together during arrivals at the World Music Awards 2010, held May 18, 2010. Photo by Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images.

Rodriguez, who co-hosted the World Music Awards alongside her, remembered a “happy and joyous” person with a “curious spirit.”

Two women smile and laugh together on a red carpet; one has short blonde hair, the other long dark curly hair, with a gold Oscar-like statue visible behind them.
Hayden Panettiere and Michelle Rodriguez share a laugh on the red carpet ahead of the World Music Awards at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on May 18, 2010. Photo by Stephane Danna / AFP via Getty Images.

“I just can’t stand how many young people are leaving us lately,” she told Variety. “It’s disheartening. It’s not normal.”

A blonde woman in a patterned dress speaks into a microphone onstage while a dark-haired woman in a black graphic tee looks on at an awards show.
Panettiere addresses the audience mid-sentence, microphone in hand, while Rodriguez listens attentively beside her during the World Music Awards show at the Sporting Club in Monaco. Photo by Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images.

An autopsy found no signs of trauma and no indication of foul play. Her cause and manner of death remain pending toxicology.

Two women laugh heartily together on a red carpet in front of a World Music Awards banner; one in a patterned dress, the other in a black top.
Caught in a moment of shared laughter at the arrivals, Panettiere and Rodriguez lean into each other against the World Music Awards step-and-repeat backdrop in Monaco. Photo by Stephane Danna / AFP via Getty Images.

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