Hayden Panettiere's mother, Lesley Vogel, has described the moment she learned her actress daughter had died, saying she was left feeling "numb." Panettiere, 36, was found unresponsive at her home in Greenville, South Carolina, last week.
In a new interview, Vogel became emotional as she admitted she is still struggling to process the news. "I was just numb," she said. "I couldn't feel anything, I am still not grasping this is real. It just doesn't, it doesn't feel real. My mind tells me it's not at times. You know, it's going to be a process."
Emotional Interview Moment
During her appearance on Good Morning America, Vogel got out of her chair and told anchor Rhiannon Ally that she "needed a minute" before deciding whether to continue the interview. She went on to say that her relationship with Hayden changed dramatically after the actress became famous for playing Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes.
"I would say Hayden had a very happy life up until she got Heroes at 16," Vogel said, adding: "Here she was, the star of a major TV series, but I would say, at about 17, I started seeing her going downhill."
She continued: "As she got older, it wasn't my voice anymore. I wasn't in charge of her choices. I tried to give her the best advice I could. But again, any young person, teen, they want to be liberated, and I get that."
Disputed Memoir Claims
In her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere claimed that at 19, she told her mother she no longer wanted Vogel to manage her career, to which Vogel allegedly replied: "You owe me." Vogel disputes this, saying: "I know I didn't say what she said I said."
Panettiere was mother to an 11-year-old daughter named Kaya with former boxer Wladimir Klitschko, who received full custody of her. Vogel said: "The situation with Hayden and Vlad and their daughter, that was a very difficult period for her. Vlad had taken over custody for safety, in my opinion. She just couldn't keep those demons away."
Response to Criticism
Vogel also responded to criticism, including from CBS Mornings host Gayle King, who felt she was focusing too much on her daughter's struggles in the wake of her death. She said: "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."
Police in Greenville said Panettiere, who had struggled with addiction and mental health issues, was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest, with "no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances." Vogel had Panettiere with her ex-husband, Alan Lee "Skip" Panettiere. They were also parents to a son, Jansen, who died aged 28 in 2023 from aortic valve complications arising from an enlarged heart.
Asked about losing both of her children, Vogel said: "I think you just have to find that inner strength. I have been knocked down throughout my life and I'm not complaining because I have the strength to get back up. It's not if we fall, it's how we get back up, that defines who we are."
