Hayden Panettiere’s mum Lesley Vogel speaks out about late actress in first TV interview since her death

Hayden Panettiere’s mother has opened up about her estranged daughter during her first TV interview since the late star’s death earlier this month.

The 36-year-old actress, known for her roles in Heroes, Nashville and Ice Princess, died on August 16 after she was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina.

First responders attempted to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her mother, Lesley Vogel, has appeared on TV for the first time since her second child’s death, telling ABC News she felt “numb” the moment she found out.

“I was numb. I just couldn’t feel anything. I am still 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,” she said.

“I think it will probably hit me later on, but I would say to the haters out there you don’t have a right to tell me how I mourn the loss of my second child; that’s my domain.”

Panettiere’s parents, who divorced when she was young, lost their son Jansen in 2023 at the age of 28. The family said in a statement at the time that he died from an enlarged heart.

Vogel said she is focusing on finding her “inner strength” as she comes to terms with another family tragedy.

“I have been knocked down throughout my life, and I’m not complaining because I have the strength to get back up and it’s not how we fall; it’s how we get back up that defines who we are,” she said.

Vogel and Panettiere were estranged in the actor’s final months, a separation that Vogel said came about after she went to stay with her daughter about a year ago.

Vogel said Panettiere at that time wanted to get out of her relationship with Brian Hickerson, who she’d been dating on and off since 2018.

“She knew Brian was toxic, she knew she had to get him out of her life,” Vogel said.

“When I got the phone call from her saying ‘I’m going to be with the person I love’ I just lost it . . . I could not believe she had gone that far back, he had been successful in reeling her back in with all of the things he’d done to her.”

Panettiere’s relationship with Hickerson was marred by several domestic violence claims and arrests. He pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend in April 2021.

The mother and daughter’s estrangement began when Vogel told Panettiere she couldn’t talk to her if Hickerson was part of her life.

“I needed to have that pocket of time,” she said.

“I did not by any stretch of the imagination think that this was going to happen to Hayden, I don’t know why, I just didn’t.”

In Panettiere’s memoir she published in May, she wrote about the moment her 19-year-old self told her mother she didn’t want her managing her career anymore.

Panettiere wrote that her mum’s response was: “You owe me”.

However, Vogel maintains her version of the moment was different.

“I remember being in her trailer and literally saying nothing, I knew that day would come; it’s not that I didn’t expect it, but it was a very short, brief conversation and then she turned and went to set.

“I know I didn’t say what she said I said.”

Despite their differences, Vogel hoped her daughter would be remembered for the “talented, beautiful, outgoing, intelligent woman she really was”.

“I also want people to understand that it is my belief that she was suffering now that doesn’t make sense because when you look at a beautiful girl who’s got an incredible career, even though it has had its ups and downs, but you look at that big picture and you go ‘Why would you be suffering?’,” she said.

“People don’t understand that you can have on the exterior all of this but that doesn’t mean that what’s going on in here matches.”

The Greenville City Police Department is leading the investigation into Panettiere’s death, with the Drug Enforcement Administration assisting.

According to a police report, Panettiere was with Hickerson and his brother Zach at the time of her death. The report said it was unknown whether Panettiere had been using drugs or alcohol.

Police have said there were no signs of trauma or foul play, and the cause of her death remains under investigation.

Panettiere’s estate will go to her daughter and her family will organise a celebration of life in the future.