Hickerson Owns Past Abuse as Panettiere Memoir Hits Shelves

When your ex sits down for an interview and opens by saying“I got arrested for abusing her,”you know the reckoning is real. That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday, May 12, when Brian Hickerson addressed the domestic violence allegations that will be detailed in Hayden Panettiere’s forthcoming memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, set to release on Tuesday, May 19.

Hickerson’s timeline with Panettiere is marked by documented violence. The two were first linked in 2018, and by 2019, Hickerson faced felony domestic violence charges following an alleged incident with the actress. Those initial charges were dropped, but in 2020, another domestic violence altercation led to his arrest, conviction, 33 days in prison, four years of probation, and a $500 fine. This time around, he’s not deflecting or minimizing.“I had a lot to drink and I got physical with her,”he told the outlet.“And you know, that’s just what happens when you lay hands on women.”

What’s striking here isn’t just the admission—it’s the accountability work that apparently followed. Hickerson says he’s attended AA meetings and therapy, and has had“a couple opportunities to apologize”to Panettiere. He frames their current relationship as one of“mutual respect”and describes her as someone who“will always hold a special place in my heart.”He’s even praised her book as“incredible”and encouraged others to read it, noting that the domestic violence material appears around page 272. There’s also a specific incident he asked her to leave out: a moment when he was drunk, threatened Panettiere, and gave her 10 seconds to run before he’d throw his phone at her. She didn’t include it.

The meta-layer here is worth examining. Hickerson’s public stance—admitting fault, encouraging people to read about his abuse from the victim’s perspective, framing domestic violence education as something he wishes he’d received earlier—reads like a textbook attempt at redemption. Whether that redemption is genuine or performative is a question only those closest to the situation can answer. What we can say is that he’s choosing visibility over silence, and he’s positioning his own story as a cautionary tale rather than hiding from it.

On the broader canvas, this moment underscores something important: survivors are telling their stories, and when they do, the people who hurt them are increasingly being asked to reckon with those narratives in real time. Panettiere’s memoir arrives as a public document of her experience. Hickerson’s choice to engage with it rather than ignore it signals a cultural shift, even if the sincerity of that shift remains complicated and open to interpretation.