Former “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” star Michelle Trachtenberg has died, police sources exclusively told The Post Wednesday. She was 39.
The cause of death was not immediately known, but her death was reportedly not being investigated as suspicious.
Her mother found Trachtenberg dead in her apartment near Columbus Circle in New York City. Sources revealed the actress recently had a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications.
Before her death, the former “Harriet the Spy” actress faced negative comments from her Instagram followers about her appearance.
In recent months, she appeared gaunt in photos, which caused some of her 800,000 Instagram followers to speculate about her health.
Last January, Trachtenberg responded to fan concerns saying she was “happy and healthy” and had never had plastic surgery.
In January 2024, she addressed the negativity and clapped back in an Instagram post.
“Fun fact. This is my face,” she wrote in a caption alongside a selfie.
“Not malnutrition no problems. Why do you have to hate? Get a calendar,” she wrote.
The negative comments began earlier that week, after Trachtenberg posted a similar selfie. “Snake it to make it,” she wrote in the caption for that photo.
“Concerned for yellow in your eyes but other than that you are a QUEEN and you’re a wonderful human being who deserves love and joy,” one commenter wrote.
Another accused her of getting plastic surgery. “You’re stunning, but you had buccal fat removal. Your cheeks suddenly look sucked in, exactly the same way the buccal fat removal in the face/cheeks does to people. You’ve always been beautiful and still are and there’s nothing wrong with getting surgery, but why lie about it?”
“I’ve received several comments recently about my appearance. I have never had plastic surgery I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters,” Trachtenberg wrote in the caption of another Instagram selfie post on Jan. 18, 2024.
Born in New York City on Oct. 11, 1985, Trachtenberg first rose to fame as a child star in 1996’s “Harriet the Spy.” She went on to play Buffy’s sister (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Dawn, in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and she was also in “Gossip Girl” as the manipulative socialite, Georgina Sparks.
In 2020, Trachtenberg shared a post on Valentine’s Day reflecting on being the victim of bullying in her youth.
“The kids were cruel. There is no need to harp on the past,” she said. “But I still have scars from being thrown down stairs and slammed into lockers head first.”
Trachtenberg wrote in her caption, “I write this to every child, teen, person, out there who is bullied. You are something. Do not put your value in someone else. Not letting them win, is your win.”
In 2021, Trachtenberg made allegations against “Buffy” creator and “Avengers” director Joss Whedon, 60.
“The last. Comment I will make on this. Was. There was a rule. Saying. He’s not allowed in a room alone with Michelle again,” she wrote at the time in an Instagram post. Trachtenberg was 15 when she was in “Buffy,” and she didn’t elaborate on who made this rule.
Whedon later denied this allegation.
Her final social media post was a throwback photo of herself that she shared on Feb. 18. She captioned it, “I wanted to look like naughty.”
