Hayden Panettiere's estranged mom slams star's ex-boyfriend after her shocking death
Los Angeles, California - Hayden Panettiere's mom, Lesley Vogel, addressed her daughter's tragic passing and slammed Hayden's on-and-off again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson.
On Tuesday, during a phone interview with NBC News, the 70-year-old called her late daughter an "amazingly talented person in so many departments."
She continued, "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 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."
The Scream alum was found dead at the age of 36 on Sunday in a South Carolina apartment, with 911 dispatch audio revealing a possible overdose.
Lesley Vogel seemingly blames Hayden's ex for Heroes star's tragic death
Hayden revealed in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, that she fired her mom as her manager, and the two had been estranged for years – but the All My Children actor still has hope that her daughter is at peace.
"I just feel that she's with her brother and they're at peace," Lesley added, mentioning the Heroes star's late sibling Jensen, who unexpectedly died at the age of 28 in 2023.
The soap opera alum further reacted to the latest reports that Brian Hickerson, whom Hayden secretly reunited with prior to her death, was present when she died.
"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 said.
The former manager added, "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."
Cover photo: Collage: Frazer Harrison & Jon Kopaloff / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP



