Michelle Trachtenberg reportedly underwent a liver transplant shortly before her death at age 39. In Touch takes a closer look at the Gossip Girl alum’s private illness and health battle.

Sources confirmed to multiple outlets that the actress underwent liver transplant surgery prior to her being found dead in her New York City apartment on February 26, 2025. An insider told the New York Post that she may have been suffering from complications from the procedure.

A New York Police Department said in a statement obtained by In Touch that “criminality” was “not suspected” in Michelle’s death.

Police responded to a 911 call at her midtown Manhattan apartment, where Michelle was found “unconscious and unresponsive.” EMS responded to the location and pronounced her dead. An autopsy will be conducted, according to ABC News. The New York City medical examiner will determine Michelle’s cause and manner of death, while the investigation “remains ongoing.”

Michelle shared a photo on February 12, 2025, with her face appearing somewhat gaunt and pale. “Are you sick?!” one fan asked in the comments, while another wrote, “You seem unwell. I wish you the best.”

Fans also expressed worry for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum when she shared a selfie on January 26, 2025. “There is something wrong and I am not a hater,” one user commented, while another added, “This looks like a completely different person.”

The star shared a selfie with a pal in January 2024, where several users commented that her eyes appeared somewhat yellow, and her hair seemed to be thinning.

“Michelle u look sick. R u ok?” one fan asked about her well-being, while Michelle replied, “Explain to me how I look sick. Did you lose a calendar and not realize I’m not 14. I’m 38. How sad for you to leave such a comment.”

The follower then responded, “No disrespect my comment was really not to hurt u. I look up to u. It has nothing to do with ur age. I just find that u look pale and sick. Sorry if i offended u it was not my attention.”

In the comments section of a selfie she shared several days later, Michelle told followers, “I’ve received several comments recently about my appearance. I have never had plastic surgery I am happy and healthy. Check yourself haters.”

“So. It’s Valentine’s week. Back in my day all the kids had to write a bulls–t Valentine’s Day card to everyone in the class. I never got one on purpose, everyone got a Valentine card. No one ever gave me one and they thought I didn’t need the attention,” she explained in a February 13, 2020, Instagram post showing a photo of her as a child.

“The kids and staff all laughed and thought everyone else should get one, being an actress since I was 3, apparently I didn’t need one. No one gave a thought I was helping my family pay bills. I was just the girl on the TV, it was just that their kid wasn’t on TV,” Michelle continued.

“This is challenging for me to post as people always contact me on social media saying oh my brother my sister went to school with you, you were best friends! False. The kids were cruel. There is no need to harp on the past. But I still have scars from being thrown down stairs and slammed into lockers headfirst,” the former child star revealed.

“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,” Michelle added. She went on to thank a teacher who “let me eat lunch in her classroom so the kids wouldn’t throw out my food or throw their food at me.”

The TV veteran appeared in a 1993 episode of Nickelodeon’s Clarissa Explains It All, followed by a three-episode stint on the ABC soap opera All My Children the following year. Michelle got her big break playing Nona Mecklenburg on The Adventures of Pete & Pete from 1994 through 1996. She rocketed to stardom as a teen playing Buffy Summers’ younger sister Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 2000 through 2003.

Michelle’s most recent role was reprising her role of Georgina Sparks in several episodes of the Gossip Girl reboot in 2022.