The Buffy the Vampire Slayer star was found unresponsive at her NYC apartment by her mother on February 26, 2025. Emergency medical services pronounced her deceased at the scene. She was 39.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York declared that Trachtenberg lost her life from complications of diabetes, which can be a side effect of liver transplantation.
Trachtenberg had undergone a liver transplant in 2024.
The condition, known as post-liver transplantation diabetes mellitus (PLTDM), develops in up to 30% of liver transplant recipients and is associated with an increased risk of mortality.
Symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, unexplained weight loss (in some cases), and recurrent infections.
In January 2024, Trachtenberg responded to Instagram commenters who said she looked unwell after she shared a selfie, writing, “Fun fact. This is my face. I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.”
In the following months, Trachtenberg was "really, really down emotionally" and had "told friends she was struggling,” per People.
"She was really, really sick and open with those in her circle about how much she was struggling," an insider said. "She was “pale, gaunt, very thin, and dealing with health issues."
The star was best known for playing Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl and Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also starred in the Disney film Ice Princess alongside Kim Cattrall.
Her earliest TV roles were in Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete and the soap opera All My Children.
Sharing a photo of them from Gossip Girl, Blake Lively wrote, “She was electricity. You knew when she entered a room because the vibration changed. Everything she did, she did 200%."
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York declared that Trachtenberg lost her life from complications of diabetes, which can be a side effect of liver transplantation.
Trachtenberg had undergone a liver transplant in 2024.
The condition, known as post-liver transplantation diabetes mellitus (PLTDM), develops in up to 30% of liver transplant recipients and is associated with an increased risk of mortality.
Symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, unexplained weight loss (in some cases), and recurrent infections.
In January 2024, Trachtenberg responded to Instagram commenters who said she looked unwell after she shared a selfie, writing, “Fun fact. This is my face. I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.”
In the following months, Trachtenberg was "really, really down emotionally" and had "told friends she was struggling,” per People.
"She was really, really sick and open with those in her circle about how much she was struggling," an insider said. "She was “pale, gaunt, very thin, and dealing with health issues."
The star was best known for playing Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl and Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also starred in the Disney film Ice Princess alongside Kim Cattrall.
Her earliest TV roles were in Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete and the soap opera All My Children.
Sharing a photo of them from Gossip Girl, Blake Lively wrote, “She was electricity. You knew when she entered a room because the vibration changed. Everything she did, she did 200%."