Celebrity evangelist reflects on 2024 meeting with Hayden Panettiere after actress's sudden passing
A Tennessee pastor who has shared the gospel with over 2,000 celebrities opened up about meeting actress Hayden Panettiere in 2024 following news of her untimely death on Aug. 16.
Dylan Novak serves as a youth pastor at Henard's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Rogersville, Tennessee. He is also the founder of Celebrity Evangelist Ministries, a non-profit outreach dedicated to sharing the gospel with the world's most famous figures in what Novak calls a forgotten mission field.
Novak recalled meeting Panettiere in April 2024 at Steel City Con in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, where he and his wife connected with the star over parenthood and raising daughters. While they were able to share their faith with the actress, Novak said he and his wife walked away feeling a heavy, "sad presence" surrounding Panettiere.
"One thing my wife and I immediately started talking about after we met her was what a sad presence there was about her," Novak told Fox News Digital. "And I've talked a lot about that this past week. I wish we had had an opportunity to follow up with Hayden again."
Novak added that people he said he knows in the entertainment industry who worked with Panettiere had shared similar observations.
"I've talked with multiple people who I personally know who have worked with her, been around her, and all of them said pretty much the same thing," Novak said. "There was such a kindness about her, but there was also such a heartbreaking sadness that also surrounded her."
Panettiere, who grew up on screen in films like "Remember the Titans" and "Ice Princess" before starring in the hit television dramas "Heroes" and "Nashville," was found unresponsive Aug. 16 at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. Preliminary autopsy results showed no signs of trauma that contributed to Panettiere’s death, according to the Greenville County Coroner's Office. Her death remains under investigation.
Novak said he was saddened to learn of her passing and wished he'd had opportunities to speak with her again at other events, but he found comfort in knowing he'd had the chance to witness to her and give her faith resources. The news of her death reignited his belief in the urgency and importance of his ministry.
"It just filled me with the fuel, the fire of the gospel of, we need to keep doing this. This is why we do what we do," he told Fox News Digital. "We all have the mindset when we see younger people... 'Oh, there'll be plenty of time. But really nobody knows except the Lord. That’s why it’s so important to make sure we continue to share that with everybody around us."
Novak's ministry has reached over 2,000 celebrities with the gospel, including President Donald Trump, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Ozzy Osbourne, Jerry Lee Lewis and Sydney Sweeney.
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He takes a personal approach to every encounter, telling each person he meets that he cares about them and where they are going after they die. Novak also brings customized gift bags with embossed Bibles, Christian resources and a handwritten note addressing specific comments the celebrity has made in interviews about faith and doubts.
Over the years, those quiet conversations have borne surprising fruit.
In 2023, Novak presented rock legend Ozzy Osbourne with a modern-translation Bible tailored to address Osbourne's difficulty understanding the Bible. Ozzy's son, Jack Osbourne, later told Novak his father kept the book on his nightstand and spent hours reading it.
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Following Osbourne’s passing in July 2025, Novak says his ministry received hundreds of emails from fans asking for the same gospel resources he shared with Ozzy.
"We had, no exaggeration, hundreds of people emailing us asking us for gospel information," Novak previously told Fox News Digital, noting that people were saying, "'Can you send me some of the material that you gave to Ozzy? I'm an old rocker, I rejected Christ years ago. But if Ozzy was willing to look at it, I'm willing to look at it.' People saying, ‘I want to be saved' and that is just so beautiful to see."