Actor Ethan Suplee has confessed to smoking heroin at the Remember the Titans premiere in 2000 in a tribute to late co-star Hayden Panettiere.
Suplee, 50, revealed his struggles with drug addiction in an essay published on his Substack page on Monday, one day after Panettiere died at age 36 from a suspected overdose in Greenville, South Carolina.
The actor recalled attending the Los Angeles premiere of the movie at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on September 23, 2000, where he met the then ten-year-old child star on the red carpet.
"September 23, 2000, was the night of the Remember the Titans premiere at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. On the red carpet, Hayden Panettiere, the ten-year-old girl from the movie, ran up to me, leapt into my arms, and gave me a big hug," Suplee wrote.
Suplee described how Panettiere's warmth briefly eased his emotional distress during his active addiction. "Holding her I was lighter, some of her energy and innocence washed over me, and for a moment my smile was genuine," he wrote.
However, the moment was immediately followed by a relapse into drug use. "I went from the press line to the bathroom and smoked heroin," wrote Suplee, who has undergone a massive weight loss transformation in recent years.
Overcoming Doubt and Addiction
Suplee explained that meeting the real-life person he portrayed in the film triggered deep feelings of insecurity. He played offensive lineman Louie Lastik in the 2000 movie, which was based on the true story of a Virginia high school football team integrated under coach Herman Boone in 1971.
After meeting the real Lastik, Suplee recalled feeling overwhelmed by self-doubt regarding his physical appearance. "He wasn't fat. Not like I was. I imagined his disappointment at seeing who they'd gotten to play him. So I went back to the bathroom and smoked heroin," he wrote.
His mood worsened further during the premiere when he broke a golf cart by sitting on it. Suplee said he retreated to the bathroom once again, crying and smoking heroin while the movie played inside the stadium venue.
He saw Panettiere one final time as guests exited the stadium at the end of the evening. "I saw Hayden one last time, as we made our way out of the stadium. Once again, she leapt into my arms, and once again I felt some relief," he wrote.
Reflecting on that night, Suplee admitted to believing he might not survive his addiction. "I didn't die of an accidental overdose that night. But I went to bed believing I wouldn't wake up, and that didn't seem so bad. Better than whatever a new day offered," he wrote.
Honouring Lost Colleagues
In his Substack essay, Suplee paid tribute to both Panettiere and actor Harold Pruett, who died from an accidental drug overdose in February 2002 at age 32.
"I feel a tremendous sense of loss today, I don't know what they were going through at the end. I only know that for them, the battle is over. And I'm sad," Suplee wrote.
He concluded his post by expressing gratitude for his recovery. "The miracle of my life wasn't just asking for help, it was finding the courage to accept it. Something that seemed impossible," he wrote.
Remember the Titans starred Denzel Washington as coach Herman Boone, alongside Will Patton as assistant coach Bill Yoast. Panettiere played Yoast's daughter, Sheryl Yoast, in an ensemble cast that featured Ryan Hurst, Wood Harris, Donald Faison, Kate Bosworth, and Ryan Gosling.
Investigation Into Panettiere's Death
Panettiere was found unresponsive on Sunday in a living room armchair at the Judson Mill Lofts apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, where she had been temporarily staying.
Zach Hickerson, the brother of Panettiere's boyfriend Brian Hickerson, discovered the actress in the armchair at around 1:30 p.m., according to sources who spoke to TMZ. Brian Hickerson was asleep in a bedroom inside the loft at the time.
Zach and Brian called 911 after failing to wake Panettiere. Emergency medical services teams performed CPR and worked on her for nearly an hour before declaring her dead at the scene in front of both brothers, according to the police report.
An officer on the scene reported that Zach was very emotional while watching paramedics perform CPR. Brian did not appear to show emotion until after Panettiere was formally declared dead.
Audio from the 911 call revealed that a dispatcher described the situation as a cardiac arrest and a suspected overdose. Sources also told TMZ that Narcan, a nasal spray medication used to treat opioid overdoses, was found on a mattress at the property.
Following the arrival of police officers at the scene, Brian Hickerson allegedly showed authorities a bag of medication that Panettiere had been taking at the time of her death.
Background and Personal Life
The Greenville County Coroner's Office stated that Panettiere's cause of death remains under investigation. The Greenville Police Department confirmed in a statement that a preliminary investigation indicated no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances, and an autopsy revealed no signs of trauma that would have contributed to the death.
Panettiere first began dating Brian Hickerson in 2018. Their on-off relationship became tumultuous, leading to Hickerson being arrested several times on domestic violence charges.
The relationship appeared to end in 2020 when Panettiere filed for a restraining order against Hickerson in July of that year. Court records do not state the outcome of her request.
In her memoir, titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, published three months before her death, Panettiere revealed intimate details of her relationship with Hickerson. She alleged that Hickerson once beat her so severely that she had to remain in her house for weeks to keep her injuries hidden from the public.
Panettiere had also spoken publicly in recent months about her troubled childhood in the spotlight. She leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter with her ex-partner Wladimir Klitschko, a former boxer turned Ukrainian government official who has full custody of the child.
