Lesley Vogel, the estranged mother of actress Hayden Panettiere, has spoken publicly for the first time since her daughter's sudden death, expressing hope that the late star has been reunited with her younger brother Jansen in the afterlife.
Hayden Panettiere, best known for her role in the television series Nashville, died on 16th August at the age of 36. She was found unresponsive at a property in South Carolina. Her brother Jansen Panettiere died of heart complications in 2023 at the age of 28.
In an emotional interview with NBC News, the 70-year-old mother said: "I just feel that she's with her brother and they're at peace." Lesley Vogel and her ex-partner Skip Panettiere have now lost both of their children in unexpected circumstances.
Mother Describes Daughter's Struggles
During a phone call with reporters on Sunday, Lesley Vogel described her daughter as an "amazingly talented person" who "sadly lost her way." She hinted at Hayden's well-documented struggles with mental health and addiction.
"I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it's a very challenging industry and it's not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path," Lesley Vogel told NBC News.
She added: "I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different. I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes."
Criticism of On-Off Boyfriend
Lesley Vogel also criticised Hayden's on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson, who was reportedly present at the scene when the actress died. The couple had a turbulent relationship from 2018 to 2022, during which Hickerson was arrested multiple times in connection with domestic abuse allegations.
"This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson," Lesley Vogel said. "There is a lot of history in the past that Brian has enabled Hayden many times and this is why her father and I had been concerned for a long time about him."
Hickerson was previously ordered to stay away from Hayden for five years due to a restraining order, but reports indicated the pair had recently rekindled their relationship. In past interviews, Hickerson acknowledged the couple's turbulent time together and once called Lesley Vogel "by far one of the worst people I've ever met in my life."
Complex Mother-Daughter Relationship
Lesley Vogel and Hayden Panettiere had a complex relationship and had not been in contact in recent years. In May 2024, while promoting her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Hayden confirmed she had not been speaking with her mother.
"Unfortunately, we don't have a relationship right now," Hayden said at the time. "But that doesn't mean that I don't leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself one day. It's hard for me to say, but I've chosen to be brutally honest."
Hayden had previously described the difficulty of their dynamic, especially when her mother served as her manager. "Everything was business," the former child star said. "I became the confidant and the assistant and the therapist and the shoulder to cry on and everything but her child."
She recalled telling her mother: "I don't want us to work together anymore. I just want you to be my mom." Hayden added: "I remember being hopeful. But I also wasn't expecting the reaction that I got, which was, 'You owe me.' And that's all she said. And she walked out."
