Hayden Panettiere's friends and family 'deserve the truth'

Hayden Panettiere's friends and family "deserve the truth" about her death.

The actress passed away on August 16, aged 36, and Zach Hickerson, the brother of her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson, hopes the truth emerges soon.

Zach told TMZ: "There are a lot of assumptions, speculations and accusations currently swirling.

"The truth will come out as the authorities complete and release additional details from the investigation. And that is important because the people who loved and adored Hayden deserve the truth."

Zach described Hayden as "one of the most precious individuals on this earth".

He also argued that Hayden's friends and family should be allowed to mourn her passing without any "additional noise".

He said: "At this time, I want to clarify my involvement in effort to keep the focus on the fact that we lost one of the most precious individuals on this earth and to allow those that cared about her to mourn without additional noise, chaos, and misinformation being created and propagated by the media as well as the public."

Meanwhile, bosses at skincare giant Neutrogena recently admitted that they made Hayden "feel unsupported during a very difficult time".

The company has faced scrutiny since the actress' death, as fans revisited her claim that she was dropped as a Neutrogena ambassador after she went public with her struggle with post-natal depression.

A statement posted on Instagram read: "We are deeply saddened by Hayden Panettiere’s passing. For more than a decade, Hayden was a valued member of our Neutrogena community.

"We are proud to have partnered with her and understand that we made her feel unsupported during a very difficult time. This is not what Neutrogena stands for or who we want to be.

"Hayden’s courage in sharing her challenges helped inspire important conversations and awareness. We are making a significant investment to a long-standing community health partner to help give more women access to the support they need, including care for postpartum depression.

"We will share more details with this community when plans are in place."