Lesley Vogel, the mother of actress Hayden Panettiere, has spoken tearfully about watching her daughter’s life deteriorate following her rise to stardom on the hit television series Heroes.
In an emotional appearance on Good Morning America on Monday, Ms Vogel said she still cannot accept the reality of her daughter’s death, at one point leaving her seat and telling the interviewer she “needed a minute” to compose herself.
Ms Panettiere, celebrated for her roles in Nashville and the Scream films, died aged 36 at her residence in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 16.
Ms Vogel told the programme: “I would say Hayden had a very happy life up until she got Heroes at 16. Here she was, the star of a major TV series, but I would say, at about 17, I started seeing her going downhill.”
Hayden Panettiere died on Sunday at the age of 36 | GETTY
She added that as her daughter grew older, “it wasn’t my voice anymore. I wasn’t in charge of her choices.”
In her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere alleged that when she was 19 and informed her mother she no longer wished Vogel to manage her career, Ms Vogel responded: “You owe me.”
The former actress rejected this account, stating: “I know I didn’t say what she said I said.”
Ms Vogel, who had served as her daughter’s acting coach during childhood, also addressed the painful period surrounding custody of Ms Panettiere’s 11-year-old daughter Kaya with ex-partner Wladimir Klitschko. The former boxing champion was granted full custody of the child.
“Vlad had taken over custody for safety, in my opinion,” Ms Vogel said. “She just couldn’t keep those demons away.”
Ms Panettiere had been open about her battles with addiction and mental health difficulties throughout her life.
Ms Vogel also hit back at those who have criticised her for dwelling on her daughter’s troubles in the aftermath of her passing, including CBS Mornings presenter Gayle King.
“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,” she declared.
Hayden Panettiere and her mother Lesley Vogel | GETTY
The mother and daughter had been estranged at the time of Ms Panettiere’s death.
In a May interview with ABC News, the actress described efforts to sustain a relationship with her mother as “tough,” expressing her conclusion that a healthy bond between them was simply “not going to be the case.”
Ms Vogel had previously responded to those remarks by telling Page Six she had followed professional advice in choosing to cut contact.
According to a police report obtained by ABC News, Ms Panettiere was with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach Hickerson when she died.
Lesley Vogel reflected on her daughter’s death
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ABC – YOUTUBE
Officers discovered her unresponsive and in cardiac arrest, reporting “no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration is assisting Greenville City Police with their inquiry, and the coroner’s office has said the official cause and manner of death remain pending while further studies are completed.
Ms Panettiere’s death marks the second time Ms Vogel has lost a child. Her son Jansen, whom she had with ex-husband Alan Lee “Skip” Panettiere, died in 2023 at the age of 28 due to aortic valve complications linked to an enlarged heart.
Asked how she endures such loss, Ms Vogel said: “It’s not if we fall, it’s how we get back up, that defines who we are.”