Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother Lesley Vogel has hit back at the intense public backlash against her after her daughter’s death.
Vogel said she was “very hurt” when criticised on social media, and on TV by journalist Gayle King, following her initial statement after Panettiere died aged 36.
Actress Hayden Panettiere and her mother Lesley Vogel, pictured in 2007. Getty
“I was very, very hurt and deeply disappointed in the lack of professionalism, the lack of compassion in slamming someone who’s lost two children, without even a modicum of consideration,” Vogel told the Daily Mail of King’s comments.
“No one reached out to me before,” she added. “It’s shameful. It’s unconscionable to me.”
In her first comments on the loss, Vogel had told NBC News her daughter “sadly lost her way” and she wished “she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes”.
She also criticised Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, who was with the Nashville star when she was found unresponsive in a South Carolina apartment.
On CBS Mornings, King reacted, saying: “All I can think of is, ‘Thanks mum, for nothing.’ ”
Vogel told the Daily Mail the public backlash towards her had made the tragedy even tougher.
Panettiere’s death came three years after her 28-year-old brother, Jansen Panettiere, died from an enlarged heart, coupled with aortic valve complications, in 2023.
“There is infinite sadness,” Vogel said.
“This is not the time for me to be weak. I don’t have the luxury right now of being weak. I have too much to do for Hayden.
“When I’m done with that, then I will give myself the luxury to mourn – deeply mourn.
Vogel has now lost both her children. Hayden’s brother, Jansen, centre, died in February 2023. Getty
“I’m not saying I’m not grieving now. I am, and I do have my moments. But the bigger picture right now is I have to stay strong. I don’t have an option.”
Before her death, Panettiere had been open about her complicated relationship with her mother, who was also her former manager.
“Everything was business,” she said in a May interview of On Purpose with Jay Shetty.
“I became the confidant and the assistant and the therapist and the shoulder to cry on and everything but her child.”
Vogel said she had “infinite sadness” after her daughter’s death. Getty
Meanwhile, Vogel said she had felt powerless to help break what she called a “codependent bond” between Panettiere and Hickerson.
“I had to go no contact because I could not help her any more. I could not change this pattern, and believe me, I tried,” she said.
“I didn’t leave because I didn’t care about her or didn’t love her. I put so much effort in trying to save her. You cannot save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.”