Sarah Michelle Gellar is remembering her late friend Shannen Doherty while also mourning the death of Michelle Trachtenberg.
Gellar, 47, took to Instagram on Thursday, February 27, to pay tribute to Trachtenberg, who died at age 39 one day prior. Among the many photos of the two she shared via her Instagram Story, Gellar included one of herself and Trachtenberg sitting with Doherty.
The snap was taken in November 2005 at the DKNY Jeans Presents Vanity Fair in Concert, which featured a performance by Alanis Morissette and benefitted the Step Up Women’s Network. Gellar sat in the middle of her two friends as the trio — all three women were former child stars — smiled at the camera for a sweet photo.
Trachtenberg famously played the younger sister of Gellar’s Buffy Summers, Dawn, on the final three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 2000 to 2003. News broke on Wednesday, February 26, that Trachtenberg had died at age 39 after being found unconscious in her New York City apartment.
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Police sources confirmed to Us Weekly that her cause of death was “not yet apparent,” but her death was not believed to be suspicious. Other insiders told Us that Trachtenberg had a liver transplant shortly before her death. Her mother, Lana, was reportedly the one to discover her in her NYC residence.
“It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away,” Trachtenberg’s rep said in a Wednesday statement to Us. “The family requests privacy for their loss. There are no further details at this time.”
Gellar included the snap of herself and Trachtenberg with Doherty in her Instagram tribute on Thursday. “’Michelle, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you,’” she captioned the photo slideshow using quotes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. “’The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you’ 
.”
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Gellar also took to Instagram when Doherty lost her battle with breast cancer at age 53 in July 2024. “How do you possibly find the right words to sum up 30 years of friendship? I keep reminding myself it only hurts this much because, there was so much love,” she wrote alongside photos of herself and her longtime friend. “Thank you, for all your kind words and support. I love all the messages about how @theshando was important to you. So let’s honor her.”
At the time, she encouraged fans to donate to “animal charities” in honor of Doherty. “Whether that’s donating money, stopping by your local shelter and just offering cuddles and walks to animals housed there or even just tagging them in the comments so other people can learn about their work,” she wrote. “I know that would make our girl happy (and illicit that deep throaty laugh we all loved) .”
Gellar thanked fans for their donations in another Instagram post the following day, which featured funny videos of herself and Doherty from over the years. “The friend that was up for anything no matter how ridiculous,” she captioned the upload. “Shan 
… @annemkortright and I promise to keep the tradition alive.”
