Hayden Panettiere’s director says her team asked him to join an ‘intervention’ before her death

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hayden Panettiere’s former director, Griff Furst, has revealed that the late actress was “fighting to stay sober” as they worked together.

Furst directed the former child star in his 2025 film, ‘A Breed Apart,’ after she joined the cast in 2024.

Griff Furst says he's sure Hayden Panettiere’s was not doing well

Panettiere was 36 when she died on Sunday, August 16, in Greenville, South Carolina.

Now, days after the tragedy, Furst released an Instagram video on August 20, saying, “A producer or director, no matter how certain you are that an actor or crew member is in a bad situation, you don’t have the proof, or the benefit of the time to verify it.”

“You can adjust the schedule, you can collect internal reporting and you can assign a handler to make sure that that individual is being taken care of as best as they can,” he explained.

Griff Furst claims an intervention was planned but it 'did not happen'

The 44-year-old, however, shared in the video that he remained in touch with the ‘Nashville’ star’s team after the filming was done and “what eventually got determined was that she might need an intervention and I got asked to participate.”

“I said yes, and that intervention did not happen, at least not that I’m aware of, and I wasn’t leading the charge on that and it wouldn’t have been appropriate for me,” Furst added.

Griff Furst calls himself 'lucky to work with Hayden'

Furst then went on to address Panettiere’s on-and-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson’s presence at the apartment where she died.

He clarified that he wasn’t “in South Carolina, I don’t know what happened, but what I will say is my opinion, and it’s about what I saw on my own set, somebody fighting to stay sober and who deserved better company around them than what I observed …”

“I was very lucky to work with Hayden. I wish she was still here,” Furst added.

Griff Furst earlier said 'energy in Hayden Panettiere’s room was pretty dark'

This was the film producer’s second video after Panettiere’s untimely death. In his earlier statement, he recalled seeing her years later for the shoot, and immediately understood that “she was not okay.”

“I’m not going to get into the details of why that was, but having worked on over 100 movies and seeing just about everything, it was pretty clear that she wasn’t okay and the energy in her room was pretty dark,” he claimed.

Brian Hickerson's attorney issues statement after Hayden Panettiere’s death

Meanwhile, Hickerson, via his attorney, has now released a statement in the wake of Panettiere’s death.

“Hayden's death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed. As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play,” Sloan Ellis from the Ellis Hinton law firm said.

He added, “Out of respect for Hayden's loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time.”