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Hayden Panettiere’s Mom Lesley Vogel Addresses Estrangement Before Daughter's Death
Lesley Vogel is reflecting on losing two children in four years.
The 70-year-old spoke out after daughter Hayden Panettiere's Aug. 16 death at the age of 36, which comes three years after her son Jansen Panettiere's passing. He was 28.
"It’s a process," Lesley said of losing her two children in an Aug. 24 interview on Good Morning America. "And I think it will probably hit me later on."
She also addressed criticism that she's received around her difficult relationship with Hayden, who she had been estranged from when the Nashville alum died.
"I would say to the haters out there," she said, "you don’t have a right to tell me how I mourn the loss of my second child. That’s my domain."
Lesley—who managed Hayden's acting career into her teen years—went on to recount the moment that she found out she'd passed away.
"I was numb. I was just numb,” she shared. “I just couldn’t feel anything. I still [am] not grasping this is real. It doesn’t feel real. My mind tells me it’s not at times. It’s going to be a process."
"I think you just have to find that inner strength,” she added. “I have been knocked down throughout my life and I’m not complaining, because I have the strength to get back up. It’s how we get back up that defines who we are."
As for what she wants Hayden's legacy to be, Lesley expressed that she believes it’s a complex situation.
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"I want Hayden to be remembered for the talented, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman she really was,” she explained. “But I also want people to understand that it is my belief that she was suffering."
"Now, that doesn’t make sense," Lesley continued. "Because when you look at a beautiful career who’s got an incredible career, even though it had its ups and downs, but you look at that big picture and you go, ‘Why would you be suffering?’ People don’t understand that you can have all of this, but that doesn’t mean that’s what’s going on [inside] matches."
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Elsewhere in the interview, Lesley claimed that her daughter "had a very happy life" until she was cast in Heroes at the age of 16, which is when she "started seeing her going downhill."
"As she got older, it wasn’t my voice anymore," she said. "I wasn’t in charge of her choices. I tried to give her the best advice I could. But again, you know, any young person, teen, they want to be liberated. And I get that. I did get that."
Keep reading for what’s known so far about Hayden's death...
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When Did Hayden Panettiere Die?
Hayden Panettiere died in Greenville, South Carolina, on Aug. 16. She was 36.
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How Did Hayden Panettiere Die?
After receiving a 911 call at around 1:51 p.m. on Aug. 16, first responders and emergency medical services arrived at a residence in Greenville and found a woman—later identified as Panettiere—in cardiac arrest, according to a release shared by the Greenville County Coroner’s Office the following day. While "advanced cardiac life support measures" were provided, the release continued, the "resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful" as Panettiere was unresponsive. The actress was pronounced dead at the scene a little after 2:30 p.m. In audio of the emergency dispatch call obtained by CNN and TMZ, EMS responders can be heard discussing an apparent overdose.
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What Has Hayden Panettiere's Autopsy Revealed So Far?
In its Aug. 17 release, the coroner's office confirmed an autopsy was completed and that "no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death" of the Heroes star.
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Who Was With Hayden Panettiere When She Died?
The Greenville City Police Department noted in its Aug. 17 release that "an acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call," with a redacted police report obtained by E! listing both Brian Hickerson—her on-again, off-again boyfriend since 2018— and his brother Zach Hickerson as the ones to call 911.
Zach later told officers investigating Panettiere's death that she was Brian's girlfriend, according to Greenville City PD's report.
Zach also shared in an Aug. 21 statement to TMZ that Brian gave Panettiere Narcan—an opioid overdose reversal medication—after the pair found the actress unconscious in the apartment she was renting. Zach also said that he and Brian "jointly performed CPR while 911 was on speaker until Fire and EMS arrived."
Police noted in an Aug. 16 release that "the preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances" around her death.
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How Did Brian Hickerson and Zach Hickerson React to Hayden Panettiere's Death?
In the police report, an officer noted Zach was "very emotional while EMS were working on" Panettiere, though
"Brian did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased."
E! News has reached out to Zach for comment but has not heard back. Meanwhile, Brian's attorney Sloan Ellis has spoken out.
"Hayden's death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed," Ellis told E! News Aug. 20. "As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play. Out of respect for Hayden's loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time."
And while police told People officers "responded to a call for a welfare check at a home belonging to Brian Hickerson’s family" on Aug. 19, they noted "the call is unrelated to the Hayden Panettiere death investigation and did not require an incident report."
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What Has Hayden Panettiere's Family Said About Her Death?
After Panettiere died, her father Skip Panettiere told ABC News she was "an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her—and to the millions who watched her onscreen."
Two days later, her mother Lesley Vogel broke her silence.
"This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death," she told NBC News Aug. 18, "and that was Brian Hickerson."
While Panettiere—whose brother Jansen died in 2023 at ae 28—and her mom had publicly spoken about their estrangement, Vogel remembered her daughter as "an amazingly talented person in so many departments."
"I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry—it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry," she added, "and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path."
Additionally, her ex Wladimir Klitschko addressed his "profound shock and grief" he and their daughter Kaya were facing in the wake of Panettiere's death. The Ukranian boxer further vowed to keep the Nashville alum's legacy alive in Kaya's memory.
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