‘Even Stevens’ Star Christy Carlson Romano Says ‘Early Fame Is Like CTE’ After Hayden Panettiere’s Death: ‘Another Performer I Grew Up With, Gone Too Soon’

Aug 19, 2026 2:09pm PT ‘Even Stevens’ Star Christy Carlson Romano Says ‘Early Fame Is Like CTE’ After Hayden Panettiere’s Death: ‘Another Performer I Grew Up With, Gone Too Soon’

By Zack Sharf

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Zack Sharf

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Warner Bros.; Brookwell McNamara Entertainment

Christy Carlson Romano, a Disney Channel teen icon after playing Ren Stevens on “Even Stevens” and voicing the title character on “Kim Possible,” published an emotional essay on Elle’s website in the wake of Hayden Panettiere‘s death. The two actors got their breakthroughs in 2000, the year both “Even Stevens” and “Remember the Titans” premiered, and came of age in Hollywood at the same time.

“Crushed. Another performer I grew up with, gone too soon,” Romano wrote before talking openly about how being a child star is like suffering Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease caused by repeated hits to the head that’s often associated with football players.

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